


Preventing Okegawa's Fall (Again)

by ahuehuehueee



Category: Oresama Sensei | Oresama Teacher
Genre: All of the Characters will Appear at Some Point, Alternate Universe, Comedy, Crack, F/M, Friendship, Humor, OOC as hell, Romance, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-05-13 00:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5687551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahuehuehueee/pseuds/ahuehuehueee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kawauchi has been deeply troubled ever since Okegawa joined the Public Morals Club. He thinks it's all Morse Girl's fault! As Okegawa's most diligent supporter, he gathers information about the only known girl in the Public Morals Club to prevent Okegawa from falling again. </p><p>AU. The story happens after the Kiyama arc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Kawauchi's Distress

**Author's Note:**

> CRACK
> 
> The idea of making a story about this pairing was the reason why I started writing fanfiction in the first place. This thing will always have a *speshuuul* place in my heart, regardless of how much I cringe at the way I write most of the time (still do). It also never fails to make me question my priorities.
> 
> Re-posed this from FF.net in an effort to get my inspiration back. I'll cross-post from now on.
> 
> Oh, and I decided not to post Chapter notes like I usually do in FF.net. I want the story to be clutter-free here at AO3. :v In case you guys want to know about the manga chapters I reference on specific chapters, just head on over there. lol
> 
> You're not missing anything, I promise, except for some of my ramblings about the manga. haha

  


Kawauchi was in a serious state of distress.

He managed to keep his banchou in Midorigaoka for his last year, but he did not expect him to suddenly sign up for the Public Morals Club. He feared that his treasured banchou will once again lose his shine. And to be honest, while none of the guys below himself, Okegawa, and Gotoh are voicing out their opinion, their actions seem to indicate that they don't agree with the banchou's action.

"It's all because of that damn girl!" Kawauchi slammed his hands on his desk. "And that short kid who beat Okegawa in the first place, too," he added as an afterthought. _This really won't do,_ he thought.

 _It's time I make a move. I need to separate that girl from Okegawa!_ He vehemently thought, grabbing pen and paper to organize his ideas.

First in his itinerary is to figure out where Mafuyu Kurosaki lives, break into her home and find out her weakness. He thought about breaking into the registrar's office to get her records, but it was too risky. His only choice, then, is to make people who know it spit it out. Shinobu Yui might know where she lives, but he was also too risky to ask, more because of his oddities rather than actually being a threat physically. A logical choice would be Hayasaka. He needed a plan to coax it out from him.

.*.

Hayasaka had an odd feeling he was being watched. He turned around every now and then, but he couldn't find anyone suspicious.

 _Is it another one of the Student Council members? No, this is Dorm 1, so they wouldn't be here. Besides, girls are out of the question. Unless it's Kurosaki who is following me!_ Hayasaka quickly spun around once again, trying to look for his seatmate, but found no one. _Besides, it's illogical. If it was Kurosaki, she would have jumped at me already._ He sighed deeply. _Maybe I'm just being paranoid._

He had just opened his room when someone grabbed him and pulled him inside. The man quickly covered his mouth with one hand and pinned both his arms with the other. He bit his hand, which incited a yelp from the perpetrator. When Hayasaka looked, it was Kawauchi.

"What the hell are you doing here? How did you even get in?" Hayasaka blurted out, eyeing the other man suspiciously.

"Relax. I just wanted to ask a question."

"Then why did you need to break into my dorm?!"

Kawauchi paused for a second. "Because breaking in is cool."

Hayasaka sat down on his bed, feeling a headache slowly starting. "Are you the one who has been stalking me this morning as well?"

Kawauchi just held a thumb up and kept a deadpan face. Hayasaka was starting to get annoyed.

"What is it, then?"

"Where does Mafuyu Kurosaki live?"

"Hah? You stalked me the whole day just to ask me that?" Hayasaka couldn't hide his disbelief. _What is with this guy?_ "Why should I give it to you, anyway?" Hayasaka couldn't help it but be a little reluctant, even distrusting, given Kawauchi's previous track record.

"I know you dated a bunny last Christmas," Kawauchi replied.

Hayasaka couldn't help but blush slightly at the mention of Usa-chan Man. "H-h-how did you know that?" he stammered.

"I have my sources."

"So what if you saw me on a date with Usa-chan Man, the defender of love and justice!" Hayasaka exclaimed.

 _Is he serious?_ Kawauchi thought while stifling a laugh. _I can't believe this guy._

"What are you laughing-" Hayasaka stopped. _Maybe he wants to pursue Kurosaki? Is this what this is about? I mean, he even went so far as to stalk me. Maybe that's why he mentioned my date with Usa-chan Man?_

Kawauchi looked as Hayasaka seemed lost in thought. He could almost swear Hayasaka had a half-pitying, half-worrying emotion in his eyes when he looked and said, "She lives in Strawberry Heights."

 _What's with that expression?_ Kawauchi eyed Hayasaka for a while. "Thanks," he said while making his way to the door. _This was rather easy._ _It doesn't matter; I got what I needed anyway._

 _So Kawauchi's type is girls like Kurosaki, huh. I never would have guessed. You can do it, Kawauchi!_ Hayasaka thought as the other man exited his room. _Sorry Kurosaki, but this is between men! Good luck._

Hayasaka slept well that night, knowing that he did a good deed to a fellow man.

.*.

Strawberry Heights was about 15 minutes away from Midorigaoka. Kawauchi was hiding somewhere in the bushes near the building, waiting for his mark to arrive home. _It's getting late. Why hasn't she passed by yet?_ He was getting impatient. He looked at his watch to kill time. It was already 7:26 pm.

After a few more minutes, Mafuyu arrived at the gate of the building and started walking to the building staircase. She was holding two plastic bags of groceries. _There she is! Time to follow her._ He was about to move from his position when he saw another figure approach the entrance. _Crap._

The man looked around cautiously, like he was aware he was being watched. He briefly looked at the bushes, but he saw nothing there. After awhile, he seemed to not care anymore.

Kawauchi almost had a heart attack when one of his teachers approached the bushes. _Why is he here? I don't really mind him seeing me but I don't want to lose sight of Kurosaki right now._

"Oh, Takaomi-kun. You're early," Mafuyu said, noticing her neighbor come from the gate behind her.

"Yeah, the staff meeting was postponed, and I already finished checking my classes' exercises. Anyway, did you buy what I asked you to buy?" Takaomi responded. The two started climbing up the stairs to get to their apartments.

Kawauchi was shocked with what he saw and heard. _They're on a first name basis?! And they even live in the same building!_ He quickly pulled out his binoculars. Going after Kurosaki was out of the question now since Saeki seemed sharp and might sense him. He aimed the binoculars at the apartment, looking for them.

Kurosaki entered her apartment, while Saeki entered the apartment next to her. _Neighbors, huh. What a revelation! I can use this._

Kawauchi never thought things would get this interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't seem to write these days; have been too tired to think. The plan was to reword things and rewrite as I went, but idk too uninspired so I'll just copy paste it as is. Please inform me if you see any grammatical mistakes.


	2. Mafuyu Gets Called Out

Mafuyu, Hayasaka, and Shinobu were playing _Shogi Kuzushi_  when they heard a knock on their clubroom door. The door abruptly opened, and Kawauchi stood there at the entrance.

 _This feels like déjà vu!_ The three Public Morals Club members all simultaneously thought. Mafuyu and Shinobu both suddenly stood up and tried to shield Hayasaka from Kawauchi.

"We won't let you take Hayasaka and make him do something stupid again!" Mafuyu yelled while standing in front of Hayasaka to block him from Kawauchi's line of sight.

"Yeah!" Shinobu seconded. _Why does this guy always get in the way whenever we play_ Shogi Kuzushi _?_

"I came here for Kurosaki," Kawauchi coolly stated.

Both Shinobu and Mafuyu were in shock. "What?!" they cried out in unison. However, Hayasaka got up from his chair. "You should go," he said, while gently prodding Mafuyu's back to make her stand up and go to the door.

 _Kawauchi is serious!_ Hayasaka thought. _I need to support him._

 _Hayasaka wants to go one-on-one with me? I won't turn down a challenge, especially when it comes to_ Shogi Kuzushi _!_ Shinobu thought as Hayasaka urged Mafuyu to go with Kawauchi. "Yeah, Kurosaki, you should go!"

"Why are you both giving me over to the enemy? I thought you were my friends," Mafuyu groaned. "How can you do this to me?"

"Come on Kurosaki, it might even be something important," Hayasaka replied. He raised a thumbs-up in Kawauchi's direction. _You can do it, man!_

 _So Hayasaka also doesn't want Banchou to be influenced by Kurosaki! As expected of a delinquent,_ Kawauchi concluded, and returned Hayasaka's thumbs-up.

 _What the hell is happening?_ Mafuyu's thoughts were reeling. She was looking suspiciously at Kawauchi and Hayasaka who just exchanged thumbs-up. _Why is Akki not here? They're all ganging up on me._

In the end, Mafuyu stood up and went to the door. "Fine, let's just get this over with! What do you want from me?" she asked Kawauchi.

"I think it's better if we take this outside," Kawauchi flatly said while motioning to the school yard.

 _What does he have to tell me that he has to do it in private?_ Mafuyu wondered, slightly confused. Nevertheless, she still followed after him.

.*.

Kawauchi found a spot in the school yard where people seldom pass by and went there. Mafuyu followed him quietly, but looked at him warily every once in a while. He was the man who betrayed banchou twice, after all.

"What is it?" Mafuyu inquired. She wanted to go back to her friends immediately. However, the delinquent did nothing but stare intently at her, seemingly deep in thought.

 _She looks normal._ Too _normal. But there's something mysterious about her. What is it?_ Kawauchi thought, momentarily forgetting he already called her out.

Kawauchi was taking too long. Mafuyu's thoughts tried to find out the reason why he called her out and why he was staring intently at her. _I've been called out, and taken into a relatively private place. Is this a challenge to a fight? No, he doesn't know I can fight. Is this a love confession?_ She concluded, her face mirroring her thoughts.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm sure that this is not what you think it is," he said, annoyed.

"Then what is it?"

Kawauchi smirked. "I know your secret."

Mafuyu couldn't hide the sudden panic that appeared on her face. "Ha? What secret is that? I don't have any." _Crap! Is he bluffing?_

Kawauchi took a deep breath before delivering his practiced line. "I know that you and Saeki-sensei are close. You call him by his first name."

"Oh, that's because we're childhood friends," Mafuyu coolly answered, relieved that the secret Kawauchi knew was a trivial one. "The Public Morals Club members know all about that."

"But do they know you two live next to each other?" Kawauchi added. He was a bit annoyed that only a sliver of the information he had would be useful, because he was sure she didn't tell any of her other club members about her being _that_ close to Saeki.

Mafuyu turned pale. _I want to beat him to keep him quiet! But I don't want him -_ especially _him! - to know I can fight!_ "What do you want?"

"Meet me this Saturday at the strip, 10:00 AM," Kawauchi said, full of confidence that she would follow. _You'll see Kurosaki, I'll find out more of your weaknesses and utterly remove you from banchou's way!_

 _So it is a date. Have you gotten this desperate since you can't find a girlfriend? You even found the need to blackmail me,_ Mafuyu looked at Kawauchi piteously.

"It really isn't what you think it is!" Kawauchi denied.

"Alright, I'll go, but there is one condition." Mafuyu obliged.

"What is it?"

"I ─" Mafuyu paused, trying to think of a way to make the next thing she was going to say less offensive. She gave up halfway. "I don't really want to be seen in public with you. Can I go in a disguise?" she blurted out bluntly.

Kawauchi, clearly irritated, answered, "Fine, whatever. Just be there." _Who does she think she is?_ He turned and walked away. _Whatever, it doesn't matter._ _This Saturday will be a good time to observe her for her weaknesses. I have to prepare._

Mafuyu was left standing there, digesting what happened. _I know there's something going on in that head of his. I have to be careful! I'll play along for now to find out his motives._

.*.

Shibuya Aki was currently in a predicament. His senpai called him because of an emergency, so he rushed to her after class hours. However, in front of him was his senpai, surrounded by piles of clothes in the middle of the supply room. Some even lay on top of her, making it look like she was buried beneath a ton of clothes. He breathed in deeply to mentally prepare himself for what comes next. "Why did you make me go here?"

"I need help."

"In what?" Aki braced himself. Knowing his senpai, whatever she was going to say would probably be outrageous.

"A date. Something to wear for a date."

 _Mafuyu-san is going on a date?_ Aki was shocked. He was expecting his senpai to say something out of this world, but what she said was well beyond his expectations. He smiled in spite of himself. _She's actually doing something normal!_

"I don't really want to be seen with that person, though," Mafuyu added, her face slightly scowling.

His smile quickly froze. _I really can't understand her._ "O-kay?"

"It's complicated! I just want to wear something that doesn't look like me. I plan to wear that wig-" she said while pointing to a long red wig on the floor, "-but I don't know what I should wear so that no one will ever be able to tell that it is me."

"That's easy. Wear something feminine." Aki said plainly, while searching for a dress suitable for his senpai.

"You're so mean, Akki!" Mafuyu replied. Aki didn't answer, but concentrated on looking for what his senpai can wear. It took awhile, but his eyes fell upon a periwinkle dress. _This will work,_ he thought. "Wear this, Mafuyu-san," he said while giving her the outfit he chose.

Mafuyu beamed. "Thank you, Akki!"

"It's still not enough though," Aki said while looking at his senpai's face.

"What? Why?" Mafuyu inquired, squirming a little under her kouhai's gaze.

Aki had an idea. He turned away from Mafuyu and searched through the drawers of the cabinet of the supply room.

"Ah," he exclaimed as he found what he was looking for. He bought it out in the open and gave it to his senpai. "You should also wear this."

"No way," Mafuyu shook her head and omitted a deadly aura. "I am not wearing that! That _thing_ has no appeal."

"But it will help you disguise yourself more since _you_ actually don't like it," Aki explained, even if he didn't quite understand all the fuss she was making for the item he gave her.

"Fine. I'll wear it on Saturday," Mafuyu replied as she grudgingly accepted her kouhai's logic.

.*.

Aki crossed his arms behind his head while walking back to his dorm. _Saturday, huh. Who could that person she needs to meet, but she doesn't want to meet, be?_

He shook his head to shake away that thought. After all, he had a feeling that he would be better off without knowing who that person is.


	3. The Saturday Date

It was early Saturday morning. Most of the boys in Dorm 1 were still asleep, while some have went home for the weekend. There were only few people in the canteen eating breakfast, and Kawauchi was one of them. He was quietly eating fried fish when someone sat beside him.

"You're early today," Goto said while putting down his plate beside Kawauchi's with one of his hands. His other hand held a thick wad of newspapers.

"What's that for?" Kawauchi asked, pointing at the newspapers Goto was holding.

"I'm doing a little experiment," he explained, while spreading out the newspapers in the cafeteria table. "I'm testing whether the horoscope I choose out of all these newspapers will be the most accurate. Want to be part of my experiment?"

Kawauchi just shrugged. _Those things are a load of bull, anyway,_ he thought. "Whatever."

"You were born on June 2, right? That makes you a Gemini, right?" Goto's eyebrows slightly furrowed as he tried to remember the appropriate zodiac sign. He stared quietly and intently at the pile of newspapers he brought, and chose what he considered the best randomly.

" _Lucky color: red,_ " Goto read the horoscope aloud, " _Beware of alleys and glasses. You will witness something dazzling today._ That's your horoscope for today." Goto folded the newspaper closed. He turned to Midorigaoka's number 2 and observed him. "Are you coming later?"

"No, I'm not."

"You're up to something again, aren't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a hunch. Listen, I know I'm in no position to give you advice since I betrayed Okegawa during his makeup exam of a makeup exam, but he can only forgive you a number of times before he finally cracks." Goto paused for a while, before adding, "That's what I think."

"You're thinking into this way too much, Goto," Kawauchi chuckled while waving a dismissive hand.

"I'm just giving you friendly advice, you know."

"Don't worry, everything I do is for the betterment of our banchou," Kawauchi concluded while he got up from his chair while holding his empty plate. He then walked away, effectively ending the conversation.

"That's what I'm scared of. You mean well, but…" Goto sighed and mumbled to himself, his thoughts trailing off to the last time Kawauchi did something to "help" Okegawa.

.*.

Kawauchi arrived at the strip at about quarter to ten in the morning. He was confident that no delinquent would be in the strip today even if the place was their usual hangout. The guys were doing something today, and that meant Okegawa won't be around as well, which was the only thing he needed to be sure of. _If he catches me gathering information about Kurosaki, it'll be game over for me._ His eyes twitched and his eyebrows furrowed at thought. _What is it about that girl that makes Okegawa so interested?_

Something about _that_ girl pisses him off. _She's gotten so close to Okegawa at such a short amount of time,_ he thought. He was slightly irritated. _There really must be something about her. She really is too mysterious. Not to mention she's influencing him all in the wrong ways._

He did some digging around for information about the girl, but found nothing except that she came from somewhere in Saitama. He managed to get to her records besides the risk involved since seeing her with Saeki more than doubled his curiosity about her. _Her records are suspiciously blank, like someone is guarding them. If I'm willing to make a guess, it's that teacher's fault._

The only thing he was sure of, however, was the girl was trying _too_ hard to be normal, and in conjunction to her shady records, this indicated that she really did have something to hide. This made Kawauchi conclude that there might be many things she didn't let even her closest friends in the Public Morals Club know, like the true extent of the closeness of her relationship with Saeki, which in turn assured him that she would follow what he says in the time being.

In reality, he thought that her being _really_ close to Saeki would be enough reason for Okegawa to keep his distance from her. There was just this nagging feeling at his chest he couldn't figure out. His gut told him there was more about the girl, and he needed to know.

Kawauchi was too lost in his thoughts to notice a girl approach him from behind, but his body involuntarily shuddered at her approaching presence. The girl had straight auburn hair which ended above her waist. She was wearing an empire waist off-the-shoulder dress that fell halfway above her knee. She tapped Kawauchi on his shoulder, and he spun around, his mind only registering the shudder he felt awhile ago as a reaction to a killing intent. Kawauchi was faced with an unfamiliar looking girl that was scowling at him. She wore black horn-rimmed glasses that covered her eyes together with her unruly bangs. However, it was undeniable that the periwinkle color of her dress complimented her violet eyes that were noticeable even if they were covered with glasses.

Kawauchi was about to ask why the hell the girl was glaring at him when she suddenly spoke. "It's me," the girl said, her scowl never once disappearing from her face.

He was momentarily taken aback at the feral way the girl spoke, but he recovered quickly when he recognized her voice. He looked at Mafuyu Kurosaki pitifully. "You really thought this was a date, didn't you?" he said while eyeing her from head to toe. _She even dressed up._

"Shut. Up." The venom in the Mafuyu's voice was palpable. She could care less about whatever Kawauchi thought, but she was in a foul mood. She can't keep herself from frowning because of the glasses she was forced to wear. She unknowingly released a dark aura.

 _I knew she wasn't normal,_ Kawauchi thought. In the past, he used to notice that sometimes there was something akin to a killing intent surrounding her during the days when he didn't pay much attention to her. He used to shrug it off as something Hayasaka emitted, since he and Kurosaki were almost always together. Now, Kawauchi realized that it was Kurosaki's all along. He was unfazed by her aura, but he could barely contain his growing curiosity for the girl. _How can she create such an aura?_ he thought, his mind thinking of a hundred reasons why she was capable of doing so. However, his face did not show any indication of his thoughts.

"Why did you call me out?" Mafuyu brusquely inquired, honestly wanting nothing more but to go home and torture the hideous thing sitting atop her nose.

"Oh, you can just do whatever," Kawauchi said flatly as he snapped out of his reverie.

Mafuyu calmed herself down slowly. _This twit!_ She couldn't feel anything but irritation to the man looking at her like she asked him something dumb. She started to walk away to go home, but she could hear him following after her. She started to pick up her pace, but still she heard Kawauchi's footsteps match her pace evenly.

She came to a halt, suddenly realizing his intention. _This guy,_ she thought, her head throbbing at the conclusion she came to, d _id he call me out just so he can openly stalk me?_ She could feel anger rise in her. _For a relatively smart guy, he sure is stupid! As if I'd let him!_

Mafuyu broke into a dash to get away from Kawauchi. She could hear his steps getting faster, too. _This is so annoying!_ She turned sharply alley after alley so that she could lose him, but she could still hear his steps closely trailing behind her.

 _Why is she running away?_ Kawauchi thought while following the currently red-haired Kurosaki. _Wasn't it obvious I wanted to observe her today? I already told her this wasn't a date. Wouldn't it be logical to conclude that I called her out for observation purposes? Unless she figured out that I'm onto something about her. Damn it. Kurosaki, I won't let you get away!_ Kawauchi swore to himself as he picked up his speed to match Mafuyu's.

Kurosaki suddenly came to a stop in an alley, panting. Kawauchi stopped as well, a few steps behind her, catching his breath. _This won't work,_ he thought as he struggled to catch back all the breath he lost while running. _I won't get information this way! Maybe I could just soften her up for a bit then get information out of her. Buy her food, or something._

Before he could say anything, however, a pair of glasses hit him squarely on the forehead.

.*.

Kawauchi lay on the ground with his head resting on Mafuyu's lap. One of her arms was under his neck while she anchored the other to the ground beside her for support. She was feeling a little guilty. She couldn't help herself awhile ago and chucked her glasses at him in anger. _I really didn't mean to throw it at him that hard!_ She mentally berated herself. "It's all the fault of these damn glasses! _"_ she grumbled, squashing the already broken pair of glasses beside her further by hitting them with her fist. However, something unexpected happened.

Mafuyu's stomach growled.

Kawauchi opened his eyes abruptly. He blinked his eyes twice, looking at two purple irises staring at him with a mixture of concern, annoyance and embarrassment. He quickly stood up, wobbling a bit because of his sudden movement. "Wanna go buy something to eat?" he asked Mafuyu, as if nothing happened.

 _I don't understand him. I don't think I ever want to,_ Mafuyu concluded.

.*.

Mafuyu walked quietly, while Kawauchi trailed a little bit behind her. They just came from a bakery where Kawauchi bought her the _anpan_ she was currently eating. She was feeling uneasy, however. The whole situation screamed awkward. She could feel him eyeing her suspiciously, probably because of the whole secret thing that caused this whole thing in the first place.

 _Why did he stalk me and Takaomi-kun in the first place?_ she wondered. She thought that she would be able to get an inkling of what was going on in his head by going to the "date", but she wasn't able to understand anything. _Could he be working with the Student Council again?_

Before she could ponder about it any further, she saw a man surrounded by a group of men. The poor man looked weak, and was trying his best to keep the other men at bay. A guy from the circle punched him and he fell to the ground. _Thugs!_ she thought, sizing up the men. _They're too old to be delinquents. Those old bats! Picking on someone like that!_ She gritted her teeth and thought about hitting them but caught herself. Kawauchi was with her.

"Hey Kawauchi, shouldn't we help the man?" she asked her companion, concern rising in her voice as another man in the group of thugs kicked the man on the ground.

"Why should we? It doesn't concern us. Besides, he's a man, he can handle himself," Kawauchi shrugged.

Mafuyu couldn't believe what she heard. "It doesn't matter! Who cares if he's a girl or a guy, he needs help," she half-screamed at Kawauchi for being so heartless.

Kawauchi just stared at her. _Why does this bother her so much?_ He watched as Mafuyu turned her head away from him, her face conflicted and seemingly deep in thought. When she saw another man raise his hand to hit the already fallen man again, Kawauchi saw a spark light up in her eyes.

He was surprised when she collared him and brought his face close to hers, urgency apparent in her eyes. "Hey Kawauchi, I don't look like myself, do I?"

"Huh?"

"I said I don't look like Kurosaki Mafuyu right now, do I?" Mafuyu raised her tone and shook Kawauchi lightly, annoyed that he wasn't responding. "Answer me!"

"K-kind of," Kawauchi hesitantly sputtered out.

"Good," was all she replied as she quickly turned around and ran over to the group of thugs. "You shouldn't gang up on him like that!" she yelled, her anger tangible in the atmosphere around her.

"What you gonna do about it, girlie?" one of the thugs replied.

Kawauchi wasn't prepared for what he saw next. Mafuyu moved agilely, taking down the thugs one by one. _She isn't using unnecessary movements,_ he thought as he watched her move her body gracefully and accurately. _She's only hitting their weak points. None of them stand a chance. She's too fast, too precise._ Kawauchi could feel himself tremble at the sight of Mafuyu fighting. He wasn't afraid. So why, then, was he trembling? _It's not like banchou's fighting. Banchou fights instinctively, in a feral manner, and uses his strength and always goes all out. He doesn't view his opponents as opponents, rather as targets to take down. But her fighting is something else. It's calculated; her movements are light, like air. It's obvious she's holding back, like she doesn't see the point of fighting them. She fights with purpose._

Kawauchi shuddered as Mafuyu hit the last thug squarely at his stomach and quickly stepped back. She straightened her back and eyed the fallen bodies that surrounded her. The wind blew gently, making her long red hair and dress dance with the breeze. _It's like she's_ \- he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in - _untouchable._

Mafuyu only stood for a split second before she came to her senses and looked at Kawauchi in horror. The man only stared at her, wide-eyed. _Crap! He saw me!_ She was internally screaming for messing up. The last thing she wanted was give Kawauchi another thing to use against her!

"T-thank you," the bullied man stammered.

Mafuyu heard a person say, "H-hey, there's trouble in this alley!" The voice came from outside the alley they were currently in. Without missing a beat, she ran as fast as she could, grabbing Kawauchi's arm as she went.

"Run!" she shouted as quietly as she could to Kawauchi, trying to convey the panic she felt.

.*.

After running a sizable distance away from the alley where Mafuyu fought the thugs, she shook his shoulders hard.

"Don't tell anyone! Keep this a secret!" she frantically yelled. Kawauchi just nodded at her, his eyes still seeing something far away.

"Don't give me that look," Mafuyu worriedly told him, "I mean, I already can't trust you, but please please please please please don't tell anyone! I'll buy you okonomiyaki!" she hurriedly blurted out. She then dragged Kawauchi to an okonomiyaki store and practically shoved the food into his mouth. She even moved his jaw so that he could chew and swallow it since he still seemed lost in his own world.

"You can't tell anyone now, right, since you already ate my hush money?" Mafuyu shrieked. Kawauchi didn't do anything but look blankly at her.

After forcing Kawauchi to eat okonomiyaki and grumbling about the loss of her allowance, she started walking towards her home. Kawauchi walked obediently beside her, seemingly in a daze.

It was already nearing twilight when they finally reached the gate of Strawberry Heights. Mafuyu couldn't take Kawauchi's absentmindedness anymore and slapped him on the cheek.

"Hey!" Kawauchi angrily replied, holding his cheek which started to redden.

"Promise me that you won't tell anyone!" Mafuyu yelled in a pleading tone.

Kawauchi looked at her. _Is she really the same person as the one who fought in the alley awhile ago?_ He looked at her and contemplated a bit, closing his eyes. _If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would have never believed it._ He opened his eyes, and stared at Mafuyu. "I won't tell anyone, I promise," he said sincerely.

Mafuyu breathed out a sigh of relief, but still looked at the man in front of her warily. "I hope you keep your promise," she whispered in defeat. She knows that she will never be sure about his promise with him being the man that he is.

.*.

Kawauchi looked like he was daydreaming when Goto approached him again at the cafeteria table the next day.

"Did you sleep early yesterday, Kawauchi?" Goto asked, "I was wondering why you weren't here at dinnertime." Goto eyed Kawauchi suspiciously. He knew Kawauchi too well, and he was almost sure he was up to something.

"Yeah─" Kawauchi replied, sighing. He was still looking far off in the distance. Goto found it extremely odd.

"Did something happen?" Goto asked, his suspicious tone replaced with concern.

"Hey, you know what?"

"What?"

Kawauchi inhaled and breathed out deeply. He still wasn't looking at Goto, and his bangs covered his eyes. "─I saw something dazzling yesterday."

Goto didn't ask any further. The sight of his friend looking off into the distance while resting his cheek on one of his hands was already an odd sight. The thing that threw Goto off the most, however, was how beet red his friend was that even his ears were red.

Indeed, Kawauchi was up to something. _But I'd really rather not know!_ Goto concluded.


	4. At The Rooftop

Kawauchi was in a large and vast field full of dandelions. Clouds filtered the sunlight as a gentle breeze blew thousands of white seeds that looked like tiny feathers waltzed in the sky. He wasn't alone, though. A girl was grinning at him. It wasn't just a polite smile. The girl was smiling herself stupid. Kawauchi didn't think it was possible, but there she was, beaming at him like there was no tomorrow. He couldn't help but feel happy, too. It was the kind of smile that radiated warmth and pulled joy from the depths of his soul.

Suddenly, the clouds darkened and hovered around them menacingly. The girl looked at him now with unmasked hurt and anger in her eyes. Kawauchi felt his heart break slowly. Before he could open his mouth to ask the girl what was wrong, the ground swallowed him and he was falling, falling─

.*.

Kawauchi opened his eyes wide, cold sweat covering his body. He lazily brought himself up to sit down on his bed. _What was I dreaming of?_ he wondered. _I can't remember anything,_ he shrugged, yawning and stretching a little bit as he sat upright on the edge of his bed, last night's dream tucked away into nothingness. "Felt terrible though," he mumbled as he shook his head lightly to clear his head. He needed to clear his mind to think of what he needs to do next. His meet-up with Kurosaki last Saturday only created more questions than it did answers.

 _Still, I never would have guessed,_ he idly admitted to himself, _that she would be_ that _strong._ The sight of Kurosaki fending off those lowlifes was burned into his memory. _Does the banchou know? Is that why he's so interested in her?_

Finding out about Kurosaki's secret ability was enough reason for Kawauchi to stay away from her. At least, it _should_ have been enough. The girl was strong, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she was probably even _stronger_ than Okegawa. But he couldn't shake off the nagging feeling in his chest that there was something more about the girl that he didn't know. _She's hiding something._

Somewhere along his mind, however, he had come to the realization that maybe, just maybe, Okegawa and Kurosaki suit each other. He was actually excited. _The two of them would surely complement each other and make each other shine more,_ he snickered at the thought. He wanted to get them to be together. _It would be so interesting!_ But before he can fully support their pairing, he needed to be sure that the girl won't cause the man he held in such high regard to once again lose his splendor. He needed to find out everything Kurosaki kept secret.

.*.

"How was your weekend, Ayaben?" Mafuyu asked as she brought up a meatball to her lips. Today was one of those days when she would spend lunchtime with Ayabe at the rooftop. It had been a week since the Saturday incident with Kawauchi, and she was glad that nothing happened much after that, at least anything that involved Midorigaoka's number two.

"Ichika fought with Umetsugu again," Ayabe muttered. "I can't really understand those two. They're always fighting about something so trivial like who's going to wash the dishes!"

Mafuyu laughed while listening to Ayabe tell her the whole story of his weekend animatedly. She was glad that her friend has greatly improved since they fought. He was now more sociable. She listened intently to Ayabe, not noticing the person who quietly sat beside her.

Ayabe went on for a few minutes before he abruptly stopped in shock when he finally noticed the unwanted presence of the man. He stiffened and asked, "Who are you?"

Mafuyu quickly turned her head to direction Ayabe uttered the words to, and was shocked to see Kawauchi calmly sitting down beside her with a bento box open on his lap. He was looking at her intently, his eyes narrowing with the effort. Mafuyu instinctively hid behind Ayabe's back, peering over Kawauchi over Ayabe's shoulder. "What are _you_ doing here?!"

Kawauchi didn't respond and just kept looking at her.

Ayabe tilted his head a little so Mafuyu can hear his whisper. "Who is he?"

"He's the number 2."

"What?!" Ayabe jolted disbelievingly. "What did you do to make him follow you here? Did you do something to Banchou and his gang?"

"I don't know! I do know that I haven't done anything to Banchou," she muttered back, exasperated.

"Then why is he here?"

Kawauchi watched the whispered exchanges between the two. _They're awfully close,_ he thought as he quietly chewed on his rice. Watching the two of them slightly unnerved Kawauchi. He recalled his conversation with Kosaka earlier that morning. Kosaka had tried to avoid the conversation about the deal between the Public Morals Club and the Student Council as best as he could, but Kawauchi finally made him relent that morning.

"It's a bet," Kosaka sighed in defeat.

"A bet," Kawauchi's brow raised in question.

"I don't know all the details. All I do know is that we need to either crush the Public Morals Club or worsen the situation of the school."

"Ah, so that's why you used me during the school festival."

"You used _me_ as well. Not to mention that ever since then, you keep on coming to me for information. Just like right now!" Kosaka raised his voice. That was what the manual he read on how to get angry said he should do.

"Besides," he huffed, "you've never asked me why I made you start that riot back then. Why ask now? Why are you interested in the Public Morals Club all of the sudden?

He didn't reply back then. Kosaka gave him a questioning look while simultaneously thinking of something.

Kawauchi slowly closed his eyes as he brought up food to his lips again. _Because of something interesting,_ he thought as he chewed and swallowed his food. He was brought back to the present from his reminiscing when Ayabe cleared his throat loudly. He gingerly picked up one of the meatballs in Mafuyu's bento and ate it quietly.

"WHY YOU-" Mafuyu jumped up from behind Ayabe and lunged towards Kawauchi. "That was MY meatball!" she whined, getting further annoyed at Kawauchi's presence.

"I just wanted to taste it. It seemed delicious."

"But you should have asked me first! You just up and went to get one," Mafuyu replied passionately.

Ayabe stared in confusion for a while, before remembering that they were eating. He smacked both of their heads in anger. "Sit," he ordered both of them, and they both complied and sat beside each other.

"It's your fault!" Mafuyu hissed at Kawauchi. Ayabe wordlessly placed one of his meatballs in Mafuyu's bento, just so she would be appeased.

 _They're really_ awfully _close,_ Kawauchi thought once again. _None of this makes sense. I thought the Student Council and Public Morals Club were enemies? Kosaka didn't seem to be lying about that._ Thoughts swirled around his head once again as he continued eating. He couldn't help but wonder why Kurosaki would even let her enemy smack her on her head, knowing that she was more than capable of restraining him. _It just doesn't all add up._

"So," Ayabe began, seeing that Kawauchi looked like he would answer questions now, "why are you here?"

Kawauchi looked at him with a straight face and said, "I just wanted to eat at the rooftop."

 _As if._ Mafuyu and Ayabe had the same thought. Kawauchi shrugged and continued eating his lunch in silence.

.*.

After the three of them had finished lunch, they made their way back to their respective classrooms. Ayabe was the first to arrive in his classroom and waved Mafuyu goodbye. Before Kawauchi could go to the corridor leading to his room, his hand was yanked by Mafuyu to an empty corner.

"What was that a while ago?" Mafuyu asked vehemently.

"Nothing, really," Kawauchi retorted and felt the girl's grip slacken by a little, but noticed that her eyes still contained wariness in them.

"You ─ you are keeping your promise, right?"

"Of course."

"Good," Mafuyu sighed in relief. "I was wondering whether I should threaten you with violence if ever you didn't."

Kawauchi couldn't help but chuckle. "What?" Mafuyu angrily asked, starting to get irritated. She couldn't figure out why he was laughing.

"Nothing, I just would have thought that that would be your first reaction when I first found out about your fighting skills, but back then you made me eat okonomiyaki instead," he replied in between chortles.

"Ugh," Mafuyu grunted, feeling her cheeks turn slightly pink with embarrassment. "So what if I did?"

"Like I said, it's nothing, it was just unexpected."

"Ugh, okay, fine," Mafuyu said, letting the man go. _I really can't understand him,_ she mentally took note.

"Don't worry. I gave you my word."

.*.

Kawauchi sat down on his chair in his classroom and looked outside the window. Goto and Okegawa entered their classroom a while later, and noticed Kawauchi sitting quietly in his seat. Okegawa paused near the doorframe for a while, and Goto followed suit.

"Hey," Okegawa started, gesturing at Kawauchi while looking annoyed, "what's _he_ up to these days? He's been awfully quiet this past week."

"I think he's been having problems," Goto replied.

"Problems?" Okegawa scoffed. "You mean he's _starting_ problems for other people again."

"No, I think this time is different," Goto answered. It was during this time that Kawauchi finally noticed Okegawa arrive in the classroom. He smiled brightly and waved enthusiastically at Okegawa who scowled in reply.

"Different how?"

Goto didn't reply but quietly made a heart shaped sign with his hands. Okegawa deemed it enough reason to not inquire further, and begrudgingly took his seat beside Kawauchi, with Goto taking his seat behind him.

The bell rang, and their class promptly began.


	5. In Saitama

Tomohiro Kawauchi did his homework. He followed Mafuyu Kurosaki as much as he could these last two weeks. He kept his distance from her the week after the Saturday he called her out, and only went on the offensive again the week he followed her to eat at the rooftop. He planned it carefully so that she would become complacent in the week he left her alone, and succeeded, since he thought that he would not have been able to follow her if she was wary of her surroundings. He even listened in on her conversation with Shibuya Aki, and verified that they did not have enough money to return home in Saitama on Midorigaoka's Foundation Day. With all the information he had gathered, he made up his mind to go to Saitama on that day and find out more about Kurosaki's past.

Why, then, were two purple irises looking at his eyes in shock right now?

In an intersection in a town in Saitama, Kawauchi found himself face-to-face with Kurosaki and Shibuya.

"Yo," he greeted the duo pokerfaced.

"What are you doing here?" Mafuyu blurted out.

"This makes it the second time."

"What are you talking about?" Mafuyu huffed. Aki intently watched the two bicker. He was left to observe them since it didn't seem like he'd be included in their conversation anytime soon.

"Telling me 'what are you doing here?.' "

"Anyway, Akki, let's go over there at the coffee shop!" Mafuyu turned her head away from Kawauchi, and faced Aki. Aki shrugged and just nodded. _I was ignored!_ Kawauchi thought in disbelief.

The two teenagers continued to ignore Kawauchi as they sat down in a café somewhere in their town. Kawauchi followed them and sat on a chair in front of the table adjacent to where Mafuyu and Aki sat. A brief silence blanketed all of them as the two Saitama natives realized they had nothing to do until their friends finished school for that day.

Partly out of boredom, Aki took a quick glance at the man sitting behind them. _It feels weird for him to casually follow us all the way to Saitama,_ Aki mulled, _and just sit quietly with us_. Aki felt that it was kind of unnerving. He was starting to wonder who the guy was. _I do know he betrayed the banchou twice, even if I wasn't a Midorigaoka student when that happened. Is he planning something?_ Aki quietly peered over his shoulder again and studied the man behind them. Kawauchi's eyes were narrowed whenever he looked at Mafuyu every once in a while. But there was no malice in them, his eyes narrowed probably because of the effort he put while gazing at the girl beside him. He did see a myriad of emotions behind them, however. Mostly, his gaze was filled with curiosity, but there were traces of amusement, and ─ Aki was confident about his ability to read people (of course he read girls better, though), and he was sure that he read the emotions of the man behind him well (but he was second-guessing himself right now, because what he thought couldn't be right, right? _Right?_ ) ─ _fondness._ He blinked twice to clear up his eyes in case he got it wrong, but he knew it was there. _Huh?_

Thankfully, Aki was snapped out of his reverie when Mafuyu started whining.

"We can just talk about things we normally don't talk about in school then! It's still a few hours away 'til the other guys are dismissed." 

"But we already talk to each at school! What's the point of going all the way here just to do that again?"

"We can talk about things we can't talk about in school. We could even trash talk ninja!" Mafuyu said seriously, and paused for a while before beginning her tirade, "First of all, people with glasses have absolutely _no_ sex appeal-"

 _What is she talking about?_ Aki thought to himself, flabbergasted. Kawauchi just stared at her while she started her outburst. _So she must really hate glasses, huh. That's probably why she threw one at me back then._ Kawauchi just watched them have a conversation about a rumor from their old school. They seemed to have a mental conversation, and the boy with Kurosaki shook his head and shouted.

"Do you want to be discovered _that_ easily?!"

Mafuyu seemed to agree, "My hairstyle is also easily recognizable!"

"Ah, this is the worst!"

"But if the issue is to just not be recognized, then I can go as Natsuo, right?"

No sooner had the words left her mouth did Mafuyu want to bite off her own tongue. She turned around and faced Kawauchi, wide-eyed. The boy returned her gaze as well, eyes showing his shock at the revelation. "You're Natsuo? _You're_ the person who beat Okegawa?"

"You - you - you didn't hear anything!" she tried to growl, but the threat just came off as heated stutters. She was mentally rebuking herself. _How stupid can I get?_

Kawauchi was truly shocked at this new piece of information. However, he felt oddly calm. If it was a couple of weeks ago, he would have really done anything to see Natsuo fall. But knowing that the girl in front of him was the same man that caused his beloved banchou to fall made him feel exhilarated instead. _They really are meant for each other!_ His eyes sparkled with increased interest, and his reaction made Mafuyu back off a little.

"A-anyway, Aki, I won't be recognized by Kangawa and the others if I snuck in as -" Mafuyu glanced at Kawauchi nervously, severely hoping that not saying Natsuo again would make him forget - "him."

Aki wanted to comment about Mafuyu's outburst with Kawauchi, but he bit his tongue because he remembered that he sent Kohei pictures of Mafuyu as Natsuo. "Mafuyu-san! I have another idea," he said as he grabbed Mafuyu's hand. He stood up and started leading Mafuyu somewhere.

Kawauchi had just started to move to follow them when Mafuyu made Aki stop for a while just so she could glare at him.

"You're not going, Stalker-kun," Mafuyu declared. Before Kawauchi could react, the brunette had already pulled her companion and ran away. "And we're not yet done! You still need to promise me you won't tell anyone this time too!" she added, already a good distance away from where Kawauchi stood, rooted.

A few minute had passed. Mafuyu and Aki were already but dots in the horizon.

"─ Stalker-kun?" he repeated incredulously.

.*.

"I hope you aren't going to make me wear glasses today, Akki."

Aki sighed. Mafuyu had done nothing but scowl at him since they reached his house to apply make-up on her face. He was just preparing his make-up tools, and Mafuyu was already squirming on her seat, uneasy and still slightly fuming from her encounter with Kawauchi.

"Nope, I'll apply make-up this time."

This one sentence immediately brightened up the girl. "You mean like the things ladies put on their faces?"

He really couldn't help but sigh again. Mafuyu really was so easy to read and appease.

"So," he paused. He knew he was going to be treading along shallow waters with the words he was about to say. "Why is he following you?"

Mafuyu scowled once again immediately. "I honestly don't know either! He started a few weeks ago, saying stuff about telling everyone about my secret when he saw me and Takaomi-kun being close. He said he knew how we were childhood friends and all."

Aki contemplated for a while and lightly applied foundation on Mafuyu's face. "What's this, Akki?"

"Foundation," he murmured, still trying to connect the man Mafuyu described to the man he saw watching her at the café. _So was I wrong about a while ago?_

After evening out the foundation, he started applying cheek powder on her cheeks. "How about now, what's this?" Mafuyu asked again. Aki knew Mafuyu was excited, but she really was moving too much.

"Hey, stay still!" he warned. It would be tiring to fix the make-up again if she kept moving around. "This is cheek powder."

"Chalk powder?"

"Cheek powder," he repeated. To his surprise, she sneezed and the cheek powder flew all over the place. _Great._ He dusted himself a bit, telling himself he'll clean after he was done with Mafuyu. Trying to lessen his annoyance, he steered the conversation to his thoughts a while ago. "Why do you think he blackmailed you in the first place?"

"I really don't know," Mafuyu answered honestly. _I thought it's because he was working with the Student Council again, but I'm not really sure._ She sighed as she did her best to keep still. "But it's annoying how he keeps finding out more secrets about me the more I try to hide them."

"Hmm," Aki again thought deeply. _Well, I guess there are many ways to show affection,_ he concluded. "Close your eyes," he told Mafuyu. The girl followed, closing her eyes so hard they were twitching.

"Relax, I'm not going to poke your eye out!" he exclaimed as he dabbed some eye shadow on Mafuyu's eyelids. The girl tried to comply as best as she could.

"Hey," he started, "I don't really think he means you harm."

"What makes you say that?"

"Nothing, just a gut feeling."

"Well, if he _does_ mean harm, he's so obvious I don't see the point," Mafuyu replied, resisting the urge to open her eyes while Aki applied something on her eyelids. "He's just being too suspicious right now. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to be more cautious around him. You too, okay?"

Aki nodded and hummed quietly in agreement, and Mafuyu understood. "Okay, the eye shadow is done! Open your eyes now."

Mafuyu did as she was told. She saw Aki bring out another tool that looked like a pen. "Keep your eyes open," he said, while twisting the bottle. An inky brush-like thing popped out.

"W-what's that?" she asked, feeling more than just a little uncomfortable.

"Mascara," Akki replied, approaching the brunette. His hand neared her eyes as he tried to apply them on her eyelashes. "Keep still!'

"No way! No way those maracas are going near me," she half-shrieked, moving away from Aki slowly.

Aki needed to reapply make-up on her after the mascara struggle.


	6. Higashi High Legends

Kawauchi was quietly yet angrily treading his way to Higashi High as he sneakily followed Mafuyu and Aki. _Stalker? I'm not a stalker! This is research,_ he fumed internally. _How else would I be called the brains of Midorigaoka?_

The two people he was following entered a nondescript school gate with a metal plate attached to the right wall of the school gate. _Higashi High_ was carved there unceremoniously. He waited for a few minutes after they went in before he made his move. He went inside the school and was careful enough to go to the opposite direction from where the pair went.

 _I need to get a uniform,_ he thought sullenly, _so I can properly infiltrate the school._ He scanned the area around him, looking for someone he can "borrow" a uniform from. Fortunately, he spotted a student near him―

Kawauchi paused for a while and did a double take, not knowing how to react to the sight of the student bound by ropes that hung from two trees that were close to each other. The man had his head hung low and his bangs covered his face, but it seemed like he was still conscious and merely looking at ground.

 _Oh well, at least this will be easy,_ he resigned to himself, still remotely disturbed somewhere at the back of his mind. He sneaked to the man as quietly as he could, and quickly kneed the stomach of the bound man.

"A-ah," the man quietly squealed in delight, "finally someone caused me pain-! Who―"

The man paused when he lifted his head and saw Kawauchi's face. Before Kawauchi could process anything, the man had already released himself from the ropes that bound him. His eyes were alert and wary, and he assumed a defensive fighting position.

"Who are you?"

The man said the words calmly, but the threat they held hung thickly in the air. Kawauchi was lost and confused by the abrupt change of events. He was just about to open his mouth to reply when the man suddenly lunged at him, his fist drawn to the back of his head to gain leverage to attack Kawauchi.

Kawauchi instinctively raised his arms in defense to block the punch aimed directly at his face. He knew he was too slow to evade the punch, so he settled to block it. The fist connected with his arm and he stepped back a little to gain balance.

 _S-strong!_ He noted to himself. _Guess I picked the wrong person to trick. Anyway, I am not Midorigaoka's number 2 for nothing!_ He swore to himself.

The man was about to knee him, but Kawauchi predicted and parried his attack by using his legs to direct the attack to the side, making it hit nothing but air. The man was suddenly caught off-balance, and Kawauchi used his momentary distraction to jump back and put some space between them.

Kawauchi's attacker took less than a second to regain his composure and ran towards him again. Kawauchi also forecasted the man's move, and quickly evaded the attack. The punch connected with the tree behind Kawauchi this time. The impact of the punch split the bark of the tree. _He's not as strong as the banchou, huh. But why do I get the feeling he's holding back?_ [1] Kawauchi thought to himself as his enemy pulled his arm from the tree and stood once again in an upright position.

"You're pretty fast. So which school are you from? Kita? Nishi?" the man asked, staring at Kawauchi intently. "I doubt you're from Minami, though."

"I came from none of those schools."

"Oh," the man replied, and Kawauchi could feel that the man lost some of his interest in Kawauchi. "Then why are you here?"

"I'm just a visitor," Kawauchi started. The situation was unexpected, since he thought that he hit the man hard enough a while ago to make him lose consciousness. _He seems like a delinquent, though,_ he mentally concluded, so he decided to use the most reasonable reason he could think of on the fly to weed himself out of the sticky situation. "I wanted to get inside the school so that I could see Higashi High's banchou, since I am a fan. But I needed a uniform so that I would be inconspicuous."

The man's expression brightened suddenly and his wary aura vanished. "Kangawa has a fan?" he exclaimed, amusement coloring his voice. "You could have just told me," he stated, stripping his polo uniform and bashfully offering them to Kawauchi with one of his hands. "H-here―"

Kawauchi could feel the start of a headache forming at his temples. _Do all the people from this school act like Kurosaki?_ he tiredly thought as he closed his eyes and massaged his temples with one hand and reached out for the polo with his other. He did so to avoid the sparkling eyes of the student he was just fighting earlier. He shrugged off the jacket he wore and wore the polo on top of his undershirt.

"Let's look for Kangawa then, okay?" the man chirped.

.*.

Kawauchi had spent less than ten minutes with Maizono, but he already felt really tired. The man didn't stop talking, and jumped from one topic to the other. [2] He honestly couldn't follow Maizono's thought process at all. They were walking towards the school building when two people marched up to Maizono with annoyed looks on their faces.

"Maizono, you really shouldn't skip class! We _are_ graduating students, after all," the smaller of the two scolded him. The taller man just nodded in agreement.

"I just went to have my pain break," Maizono replied, unfazed. "This is Kawauchi," he motioned, "and Kawauchi, he's Yamashita and the guy beside him is Okubo."

Yamashita and Okubo looked at Maizono exasperatedly, and turned to Kawauchi and eyed him with curiosity. "He gave me the pain I wanted," Maizono explained.

The two people then stared at him in horror, and Kawauchi could clearly read that they were thinking he was a sadist. "It's not what you think it is!" he replied indignantly. Kawauchi found himself having to repeat the lie he told Maizono just to get rid of the annoyance he felt. _Why does everyone keep on misinterpreting me?_

"Oh, so you just wanted to meet the banchou, right?" Okubo laughed shakily, nervousness leaving his system. He thought he had met another person in Maizono's life that he did not want to meet, and the knowledge that Kawauchi was normal calmed him down. "Right now is not a good time, though. He's spending his time alone right now somewhere."

Kawauchi nodded. Now that he had successfully infiltrated the school, and also tricked a few delinquents into believing he was here to meet their banchou, he needed to find a way to get the information he needs about Kurosaki. All four of them were sitting on the school building's front steps. _I guess Okubo and Yamashita also forgot not to cut class,_ he thought.

A flash of long red hair visible through the school windows caught Kawauchi's attention, and he tried his best to hide himself. _It's annoying that she's wearing that red wig again,_ he thought glumly. _She's even wearing make-up. She could have thought of another disguise._

Maizono abruptly stood up. "I have to go to the art room," he stated simply, "I feel my mistress is here." He made his way to the school corridors with a skip in his step. The three men watched him leave and an awkward silence hung in the air around them.

Yamashita cleared his throat a little and sighed. "Don't mind him Kawauchi, he's just like that. He probably misses Mafuyu-san too much. I hear you're from another prefecture?"

Kawauchi felt his eyebrow slightly rise higher when Kurosaki's first name was mentioned. "Yes, I am," he began. He had no idea how Higashi High ranked in the area, but he remembered how strong Maizono was and made a wild guess. "I heard that Higashi High's banchou was really strong. But who is this 'Mafuyu-san' you're talking about?"

Yamashita and Okubo stared at him like he was a dumb person. _What the hell,_ he thought.

"―I guess you must be a new delinquent, if you've only heard of Kangawa and not of Mafuyu-san," Okubo reasoned. It was also at this moment of time when a flock of birds appeared over the horizon. Okubo raised his bag above his head. Kawauchi couldn't help but wonder why he did so.

In a few seconds, his question was answered when a rain of bird droppings fell on Okubo's bag.

"Don't mind him," Yamashita explained. "He's just a really unlucky person and things like that happen to him frequently," [3] he added nonchalantly, as if he just said the sky was blue.

 _They're all weird!_ he concluded. He coughed a little and steered the conversation back to its original course. "Yeah, I'm pretty new at delinquency," he agreed, even though he felt his pride hurt. _I've been at this for a long time!_

"Makes sense. You see, in Higashi High, we have several legends," Okubo continued, as if nothing happened. He was starting to wipe his bag of the bird droppings, though.

"Yup, legends," Yamashita seconded. "It is generally accepted in Higashi High that the strongest banchou it ever had was the banchou before Mafuyu-san."

 _Wait, what?_ Kawauchi felt his mouth open and hang slightly at Yamashita's last statement. _She was a former banchou?!_ "W-w-what?" he stuttered while mumbling quietly, shock taking control of his verbal ability.

"Yes, Mafuyu-san is a girl, and she succeeded the strongest banchou Higashi High ever had," Okubo supplemented. "Generally, Higashi High also agrees that Mafuyu-san is the second strongest banchou it ever had. A lot of stories about her strength circulated during her reign. It was also because of her that Kangawa transferred to Higashi in the first place. She defeated him, and he subsequently went to Higashi so that she will become his banchou."

At this point, Kawauchi had slightly recovered from his shock earlier. _Now, her strength makes sense._ He noted that both men in front of him had eyes lost in the past. "And that was the start of the legendary trio of Higashi High," Yamashita added. "The formidable female banchou: Mafuyu Kurosaki. Her second-in-command: Kouhei Kangawa. Her third-in-command: Yuuto Maizono. With the three of them in charge, Higashi was able to unite all of Saitama prefecture."

"But yeah, Maizono calls Mafuyu-san his mistress even if she doesn't really want him to, because, well he _is_ Maizono," Okubo hastily explained.

 _So she's really that strong,_ Kawauchi concluded. _But then_ ―

"If she was so strong, then why did she leave?" he asked the question bothering him.

The two men looked at each other briefly and turned again to look at him with both sad and nervous eyes. "Something happened," Yamashita answered with a tone that indicated that he didn't want to explain further.

 _Ah, I guess all this information is enough for now,_ Kawauchi decided. From what he gathered from their expressions, the incident that caused Kurosaki to leave Higashi High was something neither Yamashita nor Okubo wanted to talk about.

"I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions. But what was she like?"

Okubo and Yamashita both simultaneously lightened up at the question.

.*.

Kawauchi was leaving Higashi High with Yamashita and Okubo. The two delinquents ended up not going back to class and just decided to spend the rest of the afternoon skipping class and telling stories about Higashi High and its legends. He decided to go and hang out with them for a while because he thought that maybe he would be able to make them tell more about Kurosaki's former life. _Useful blackmail information in the future, after all,_ he thought. His mind wandered back to the information he gathered earlier.

There were a few things [4] that stuck to Kawauchi's mind after the lengthy conversation with Okubo and Yamashita:

 _1.)_ _Mafuyu Kurosaki_ _was extremely dense._ If spending most of her middle school life oblivious to the fact that she was the school banchou isn't any indication, then he didn't know what was. Not to mention she didn't realize it even after she _unified the whole prefecture._

 _2.)_ _Mafuyu Kurosaki was either really childish (or dumb)._ She spent the whole night making rubber band guns and still punched her enemies in the end, _for chrissakes!_

 _3.)_ _Mafuyu Kurosaki was terrifying._ She stripped down a man and laughed at his underwear. Kawauchi shuddered at the thought.

 _4.)_ _Above all else, Mafuyu Kurosaki was both respected and loved._ From what he gleaned from his conversation with the two delinquents, all her underlings were ( _are_ ) fond of her. And whenever they would fight, no one dared to go ahead of her, because everyone saw the leader that she was.

 _From all that, I'm guessing that the reason why she left this school in the first place is because of something extremely stupid either she or her followers who admired her too much did,_ Kawauchi concluded. Okubo and Yamashita made him promise not to further spread Mafuyu's picture which were being provided to the Higashi High gang by Aki [5], but sent him two such pictures nonetheless. One of them was a picture of her about to punch the cellphone camera, while the other was a picture of her about to hug the camera. Kawauchi snickered to himself about the sheer contrast of the two pictures. He decided that he would send Okegawa a copy of the pictures once he got back to his dorm.

He was so deep in his thoughts that he Maizono's voice calling him from behind didn't register in his brain. "Oh, Kangawa, he's the person who wanted to meet you."

Okubo and Yamashita stopped. Kawauchi turned around and saw Maizono simultaneously waving at him and pointing at the man beside him who Kawauchi assumed to be Kangawa Kouhei. His eyes scanned further behind the two men and saw the expression of a very dumbfounded Kurosaki Mafuyu pointing at him.

"―Stalker-kun?"


	7. Banchou Complex

_Mafuyu is still her disguise_ , Kawauchi noted. He was too preoccupied with the situation at hand to notice that he had just addressed Kurosaki by her first name in his head. _This might not end well._

Almost immediately after the word "stalker" left Mafuyu's lips, the man he reckoned to be Kangawa glared at him intensely. He didn't even need to look to know that. Maizono also looked at him, eyebrow raised to give him a questioning look. Aki wore a nonchalant mask tinged with amusement. Okubo and Yamashita stared at him, confused. _Ah, they probably can't recognize her._ However, before anyone could voice out any reaction, Mafuyu had already grabbed Kawauchi's wrist and pulled him away and ran away as fast as she could with him in tow.

Kangawa turned to Aki for an explanation. "Mafuyu-san has a stalker?"

"No, he's just someone who wants to get her attention," Aki replied. _Although he probably doesn't know it yet,_ he mentally added, finding no reason for his friend to know. "Better make your move, Kouhei!" he giddily told his friend in a low voice that only he could hear.

Kangawa did nothing but turn his head the other way, face slightly flushing.

.*.

Mafuyu pulled Kawauchi to a residential street. Mafuyu was glad no one was there. She paused a while to catch her breath before turning her full attention to the person she had dragged along.

"This is the third time you pulled me along somewhere," he said as he panted slightly.

"What do you want from me," she said as a statement more than a question, her gritted teeth not really allowing much inflection to the words she spat out.

Kawauchi just shrugged in reply, and she could feel annoyance seeping through her again―

"I just wanted to get to know you," he said with a straight face, but delight was sparkling in his eyes. _You're so interesting, and banchou seems interested in you, too, so of course I need to know all about you!_

"Hah?" Mafuyu let out a disbelieving sigh. _I can just feel that you're planning something!_

Kawauchi read her face and sighed. "I really am not planning something," he replied. _At least not in the way you think I am,_ he thought while he looked at her. He couldn't hide the glint in his eyes even if he tried.

"That!" Mafuyu exclaimed while pointing at his eyes. "That's the reason why I can't trust you! Your eyes say 'Trouble! Danger!' And besides, why do you need to find out about me in such a creepy way? Why can't you just do it normally, like other people―?"

Mafuyu quickly covered her mouth when she realized her mistake, but it was too late. Kawauchi grinned mischievously. "I can?"

Mafuyu clamped her mouth shut, not wanting to give him the satisfaction that he got what he wanted. Kawauchi took her silence as a 'yes' either way.

"That's great, Mafuyu-san!"

"W-wh-what? Who gave you the permission to use my first name?"

"But you said I can act normally, and isn't that how your gang brothers address you?" Kawauchi replied with a straight face again while he tilted his head to the side innocently. Mafuyu was starting to get really annoyed with his straight-faced expression.

 _This person is really shameless,_ she thought, but she just groaned. Mafuyu came to the conclusion that arguing with him was useless.

Kawauchi was, for the lack of a better word, really _happy._ Okegawa had never allowed him to call him with his first name, and knowing that he could at least call Mafuyu 'Mafuyu' really filled him with glee.

In fact, he was in such high spirits that he blurted out "Not wearing glasses today?" to tease Mafuyu, and did not mind when her fist got acquainted with his left cheek.

.*.

Kawauchi walked back to where Aki and the others were alone. He walked back to the small group like the small fist mark on his cheek wasn't visible, and nobody asked what happened. By then, Okubo and Yamashita were already informed about Mafuyu's disguise, and both of them reckoned that it was Mafuyu being Mafuyu. Maizono was shocked at the mark on his face, and Kangawa just stared at him with some hostility in his eyes. Aki was busy fiddling with his phone, not really caring about Kawauchi's return.

When Mafuyu came back a little while later dressed in her normal clothes and her make-up removed, Kangawa jumped at her while cheerfully yelling "Mafuyu-san!" the same time Maizono leaped at her and held her right hand possessively.

"Her right hand is mine," he said, and Mafuyu found herself torn between hitting him and ignoring him. In the end, she just decided to hit him hard. He flew a few spaces and hoisted himself up, completely satisfied with her reaction.

Mafuyu smiled at Kangawa, happy that he wasn't sulking this time around. "I'm really sorry I didn't go and meet you first."

Kawauchi turned to Okubo and Yamashita, who looked on the scene as if it happened frequently. Aki was happily chatting with someone over his phone. Kawauchi was taken aback by the whole situation, comparing the supposedly legendary trio with their trio at Midorigaoka. He felt that it's the same, but at the same time, it wasn't.

He studied Kangawa's face intently while he interacted with Mafuyu. _Seems like he likes her,_ he concluded, _and Kangawa looks awfully close to her._ The fact pissed him off a little, and he was a little shocked that he was pissed off at all. He shrugged it away as annoyance that another banchou asides from Okegawa was getting close to what he thinks will be a good pair for his banchou.

He mentally listing down traits that Okegawa has versus traits that Kangawa has. _Okegawa can't lose! This really won't do,_ he resolved in his mind.

.*.

Kawauchi followed the small group of Midorigaoka students around for the rest of the afternoon. He didn't really interact with the delinquents, and preferred to observe the group as they went on their usual ways. He wasn't noticed that much, either; he had the knack of blending in with the shadows when he wanted to. The fact that everyone was too preoccupied with playing to their heart's content also helped, so they really didn't pay any particular attention to him.

Mafuyu glanced at him every once in a while though, probably to keep an eye on him, he reckoned. And without fail, every time Mafuyu did that, Kangawa would also spare him a wary stare. He shrugged them both off, not really wanting to draw much attention in a place he didn't really belong to.

Little by little, he increased the distance between himself and the group, until he slipped away quietly when no one was looking, and walked back to Higashi High.

.*.

Mafuyu turned around again, and was surprised to no longer see Kawauchi with them.

"Hey Aki," she whispered. "Did you notice where Kawauchi went?"

"Hm?" the boy furrowed his brows in thought. "Come to think of it, I didn't. At least he's off your hair for now."

Mafuyu nodded slightly. _What is he up to?_ she mentally groaned, although she really was thankful that Kawauchi seemed to stop following her for today. It was already twilight, and they had reached the intersection where she would be parting ways with her gang. They waved goodbye at her, and she couldn't help but wonder how Aki gets along with them so well. She absentmindedly waved back and made her way home.

 _I feel like he's sincere about becoming friends with me, though,_ she thought, remembering her conversation with Kawauchi earlier that day. _Maybe he's just like Ninja,_ she assumed while she kept walking to the direction of her house. _Or not. Really, I can't understand what he wants―_

Mafuyu shook her head sideways and sighed. _No use thinking about his weirdness now._ She continued walking while thinking about her childhood instead. Before her thoughts could stray further on thoughts of the nonexistence of her memories with Takaomi, he was incidentally already in front of her.

.*.

Kawauchi was on his way to the station after finding out what Mafuyu had done in her high school while he was talking with Okubo and Yamashita. It took him about an hour or so of retracing Mafuyu's steps. The people left behind after class hours for cleaning duties and extracurricular activities were cooperative enough to talk about the 'cute' _ojou-sama_ who was at their school. _"_ They're all getting duped," he grumbled, annoyed as he half-trudged his way to the train station.

He wanted to stay with Mafuyu and her friends to better observe them, but thought against it since he thought that she might act differently. She knew he was there, after all. He opted to find out what she had been doing prior to leaving Higashi with Kangawa and the others.

Kawauchi also felt a little guilt when he saw Mafuyu and her gang brothers together, since he was reminded of his slight negligence in Midorigaoka's gang affairs. _I really should stop cutting myself some slack,_ he told himself as he promised that he would catch up on gang activities at the start of his day tomorrow.

He was about to turn left at an intersection when he heard voices opposite the road.

"―but the banchou before me was a legend―"

He honestly couldn't decide whether he liked the fact that he seemed to be able to find Mafuyu even when he wasn't actively looking for her or not. He knew that Mafuyu had been looking for some sort of treasure in Higashi High. That was what he was able to find out from his excursion a while ago, and apparently the treasure was left behind by the banchou before her. However, Kawauchi couldn't contemplate any further, because when he saw who she was with, he stood stock-still and a little shocked.

Saeki Takaomi was again with her. He was staring at Mafuyu intently, and tilted her head over to the side using both his hands.

"I am that banchou."

Kawauchi turned away as he saw that the two of them spend a whole awkward minute _awfully_ close to each other. _I don't think I want to see that,_ he thought as he continued to quietly stomp in the direction of the train station. "Honestly, they're all getting duped," he repeated aloud to no one in particular.

.*.

After reaching his dorm room, Kawauchi flopped down on his bed. He felt really tired, and somewhat irritated. He chalked it up to his fatigue. His mind was still racing with everything he discovered about Mafuyu. He fumbled through his drawer and got a pen and a notebook so that he could further organize his thoughts.

He quickly wrote down the things he Okubo and Yamashita told him about Mafuyu, and found his mood lighten up a little. He frowned a little when he recalled Kangawa's stares and Saeki's close proximity with Mafuyu. He decided he needed to characterize everything and summarize.

He drew a web that linked Okegawa, Mafuyu, Saeki, and Kangawa all together in a page of his notebook. He contemplated what he should call the figure when it hit him. _Banchou complex,_ he wrote down. He smiled because he thought he really hit the nail on the head this time.

 _Strong people flock together,_ he scribbled down again. He supposed Mafuyu liked guys stronger than her. _Okegawa's definitely not lacking in that aspect,_ he thought. He laughed quietly as he thought of his future plan of action and fiddled with his phone halfheartedly.

Kawauchi then remembered Mafuyu's pictures on the phone and opened it again. "She looks so funny," he chuckled as he quickly switched between her glomping and punching pictures, making them seem like they were moving. He lingered on the picture that looked like she was going to kill the person who took the picture with a hug. _She looks so stupid._

He quickly attached the pictures to a message and put Okegawa as the recipient. He hastily typed _look at this_ on the subject line and was eager to send it. His thumb hovered over the button that clicked 'Send'―

It took what felt like an eternity for him to realize that he didn't click the send button yet. He spaced out, and there was this sinking feeling in his chest whenever his thumb hovered over the button. He experimented with it a few times: remove, hover, remove, hover. The sinking feeling always returned to his chest whenever he placed his thumb near the button.

He shrugged it off and put away his phone. _I can always send them next time,_ he reasoned with himself.


	8. A Very Bizarre Situation

The Monday after Midorigaoka's Foundation day caught Mafuyu by surprise.

She decided to humor Kawauchi just once. She did think that he was serious about being friends with her, even if it always seemed like he had something else in mind. It seemed unfair to always run away because she had misgivings about him when all he usually did was call out for her. Or follow her, like now. She looked up at the boy who was currently staring at her with a straight face.

She let out a sigh. She found herself sighing a lot more those days. "What?" she asked him. He was sitting across the table she was seated at in the library. They were in an area where not a lot of people stayed in. It was late anyway, and the library would close in about an hour or so. She went there after going separate ways with Ninja and Hayasaka after studying together in their club room.

"That," he pointed at the book she was poring over. "Want me to help you with that?"

She stared at him blankly, not really understanding what he meant. He seemed to understand. "Want me to help you study?" he clarified.

"Oh," was all she said as understanding dawned upon her. He was looking at her intently, and that ever-present mischief was actually hidden. She really didn't know when she had begun to recognize the trouble that always flickered in his eyes in the first place, and would rather not dwell on it. That made her more surprised, and she couldn't reply to his question right away.

"I do it all the time, you know," he continued when she didn't respond.

"Huh?"

"Teach Okegawa banchou."

"Oh," was again her reply. She knew she didn't really understand what was happening, and that she didn't understand what she didn't understand, but the situation was sending her head into overdrive. Her mind was putting up danger signs all over the place. This was all too much.

After a long silence of Mafuyu not really registering anything, her mouth let out words before she could even comprehend what she was about to say.

"Okay?"

"Okay 'okay'?" he repeated, not really sure what she meant.

"No, I mean yes ― no, that's not what I meant ― I mean okay, help me study!" she blurted out.

Her reply made Kawauchi crack a smile, and Mafuyu found it so bright she found the need to cover her eyes. She realized with regret that she couldn't really tell him that she was just taken aback and that she didn't mean it. After awhile, however, she saw that there was a twinkle in his eyes that confirmed that he really was up to something. _Damn it, I played right into his hands!_

"Didn't think you would agree," he said. "But you'll have to do me a favor afterwards, okay?"

"No way, I won't! Besides, I really didn't―"

"You won't?" Kawauchi asked, his face slipping back to straightness. Mafuyu could _feel_ him disappointed, though. Confusion muddled her senses at the discovery, and she couldn't help herself.

"Okay, fine, I will! I'll do it."

"Great!" he almost sang.

Surprisingly enough, Kawauchi was good tutor. He wrote down helpful notes that she could review and added insights to make her grasp he topics easily. He discussed difficult ideas by breaking them down in a way she could understand him. At least, she thought she could understand him, but she was too distracted by the sheer strangeness of the situation for the information she was receiving to stay in her head. An hour passed by with her merely watching the bizarre sight of Kawauchi attempting to teach her Science. She nodded every now and then to let him know that she was listening.

"I think that's enough for today," he claimed. He started fixing his things, and Mafuyu did the same because she wanted more than anything at that moment to get herself away from the awkward tutoring session she just finished experiencing.

She started walking towards Strawberry Heights when she noticed that Kawauchi was following her. She quickly turned around and faced him.

"Why are you following me?"

"Uh, taking you home?"

Mafuyu couldn't understand why walking home with Kawauchi felt different from that time Hayasaka walked her home. That time, she felt happy. Now however, she just felt nervous. Horribly so.

"You don't need to. I don't want you to take me home."

"But I want to. You don't want me to?"

"I just said so," Mafuyu answered, and there it was again, that feeling that Kawauchi felt let down. She felt more uncomfortable making him disappointed, and that irritated her more. "Fine, you can do it today."

"Alright," he replied, and Mafuyu could swear that it almost sounded a note happier than it did a while ago.

They walked in silence. Mafuyu felt the situation was turning just as bizarre as and more awkward than their earlier interaction at the library. Desperate to soothe her frazzled nerves, she tried to start up a conversation.

"How did you learn to explain things like that?"

"Like what?" he asked, glancing at her momentarily and once again fixing his stare to the road in front of them.

"In an easy way," she said while looking at her foot while walking.

"Like I said, I teach Okegawa banchou. I need to explain things that way so he could understand things." He looked like he was fondly remembering something from his memories.

"You really admire him, don't you?"

"Of course," he replied without missing a beat. "He still won't let me call him by his first name, though."

"I doubt anyone will, after what you did." She caught herself too late. She was not supposed to say that out loud, since she supposed Kawauchi didn't want to talk about it.

He just shrugged. "I just did what needed to be done. I didn't want him to go yet," he said with such a straight face that Mafuyu couldn't help but laugh. "Why are you laughing?" he asked, looking a little annoyed with her reaction.

"Nothing, it's just―" she started while still laughing, "―childish, I think?"

"What? That coming from you?" he countered. "You're the one who goes around yelling 'I'm a hero of love and justice' everywhere, aren't you?"

Mafuyu paused at that. "H-h-how did you know?" she sputtered out.

"I didn't. But now I know.'

Mafuyu kicked him in the shin after that comment. "You―!"

Kawauchi momentarily doubled over to rub the bruise that he was sure would form on his shin. "That hurt! I just felt it, okay? I mean, once I knew you were insanely strong, it seemed logical. You're both of the same gender and have the same height with the bunny I saw dating Hayasaka."

"You know even _that?"_ she asked, horrified. _How does Kawauchi know these things?!_

He shrugged in reply again. "I saw the two of you."

"You really are a stalker!"

"Am not," Kawauchi denied.

Mafuyu bickered with him all throughout the walk to her house.

.*.

Goto and Okegawa were already eating dinner when Kawauchi arrived with his plate. Okegawa eyed Kawauchi suspiciously. Before he could even ask Kawauchi what in the world he was up to, the man fumbled for something in his bag.

"Here," Kawauchi told Okegawa while he gave him a small bag. "In the future, this will protect you when you are in danger. Just throw it far away and you'll be safe."

"Okay?" Okegawa replied, confused by Kawauchi's actions. Goto looked at Kawauchi like he finally lost his mind. The trio continued eating in relatively amicable silence, only punctuated by sporadic conversation about the Midorigaoka gang and school work.

Okegawa got up first. "I'm going ahead."

"Going to take care of your pigeon?" Kawauchi nonchalantly asked as he ate a mouthful of rice.

"I don't have a pigeon!" Okegawa fumed, and left the cafeteria in a huff.

Goto looked at him disbelievingly. "You know he gets irritable when it comes to that. Sometimes, I really do wonder if you have a death wish."

Kawauchi just looked at him with a sly smile in reply, and Goto couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Oh yeah," Goto began, "there seems to be something up with Kiyama these days."

"Really?" Kawauchi raised his eyebrow at that. He wasn't used to Goto obtaining information before he did. _I really need to catch up about gang activities and gather information,_ he thought. He remembered telling himself that a few nights ago, but for some reason, he couldn't focus at all.

"There seems to be unrest. A lot of people are unsatisfied with their current leadership," Goto continued, "but it hasn't affected the surrounding area yet. It's currently a wholly internal affair right now."

Kawauchi grunted in reply. _If it's still within their gang, then I don't think it will affect us yet. Maybe I can put off looking into things and do it a little later._

Goto looked at him intently, noting his apparent disinterest. "So, how's it going with the girl you're courting?"

Kawauchi choked on the food in his mouth, and hastily grabbed a glass of water to gulp down. Goto, seemingly unaffected by his current predicament, went on. "When are we going to meet her? We are gang brothers, after all."

"I'm not courting anybody," he denied.

"You've been snooping around an _awful_ lot these days, and I thought it was because you were looking into Kiyama's affairs. You always complained about not having a girlfriend, so I just thought ―"

"I really am not seeing anybody," Kawauchi cut him off, finding himself ill at ease with the topic.

"Okay, if you say so," Goto replied, still not yet fully convinced. "What have you been up to these days, though?"

"I'll tell you in time. But it's all for banchou, so don't worry about it."

Goto looked searchingly at him one last time, before letting out a sigh. "Anyway, I haven't told banchou about the Kiyama development. I don't know much yet, and they're just rumors. But I really am worried about you. You really have been acting odd these past few weeks. Usually, you'd be the first one to get to know these kinds of information."

Kawauchi felt his pride hurt at the statement. "You just got extremely lucky this time around, more than usual, anyway. I'm sure it won't happen again."

Goto let the jab at him slide. He knew that Kawauchi gets a little cagey whenever agitated or provoked. "Well, as long as you get back to your old self, anything goes. You might have sucked as a friend this past year, but we do worry about you, quirks and all, okay?"

Goto stood up and carried his plate to bring it to the cafeteria dishwasher, leaving Kawauchi alone to finish his food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dunno about you guys, but I find Kawauchi's attitude to be a bit, ummmmmm, yeah, questionable. Don't worry, he'll change his ways sometime soon.


	9. The Second-in-Command's Dedication

Mafuyu spent most afternoons studying with Kawauchi. After their first tutoring session, the next few meetings were significantly less awkward, but Mafuyu still found herself extremely wary around Kawauchi. She found it unfortunate that she even decided to drop by the library that day. She had a sudden impulse to pass by back then since she didn't want to go home yet. Takaomi's murderous aura during that time was on overdrive. It sent most students to study for their lives during school hours. But his aura at home was worse. His aura penetrated her apartment walls and scared her into studying, making her more jittery and unfocused.

The tutoring sessions were also spreading her nerves thin, since she always willed herself to be extra cautious every meeting, but they were way better than the alternative. Most important of all, they actually helped. She really wanted to get at least 70 points on all her subjects so the school trip could come true.

 _Takaomi-kun, you devil._ Mafuyu grit her teeth as she walked briskly to Midorigaoka with her bag tucked underneath her arm. _Raising the passing grade from 50 to 70!_ she unhappily thought as she felt a shudder slip through her bones. _This can't be good,_ she thought, picking up her pace as much as she could.

"Mafuyu-san."

She froze when she heard her name. It wasn't really shouted, but she still felt like it rang out in the school grounds. A couple of heads turned at the source of the sound. She forced herself to look over her back to look at the face of the person who called her, even if she already knew who it was.

Kawauchi looked at her with a straight face save for his slightly upturned lips, and his hand was slightly waving at her. It might have been considered a shy gesture, but the mischief brewing in his eyes proved otherwise.

She did the first thing that popped into her head. She ran.

She darted her way towards the school building, weaving her way through the thick of students making their way to school. Mafuyu was certain that he was following her. Her past experiences with him, no matter how few they were, quickly sharpened her instincts. When she reached her classroom, she breathed out a sigh of relief. There was one problem, though. She really didn't lose him.

The door of her room opened with a loud thud, and Kawauchi's face appeared at the doorway. "Is Mafuyu Kurosaki here?"

Her classmates all looked at her with a mixture of surprise, worry and fear. After a pause, one brave soul chirped in and cut through the silence.

"She's here!" Hayasaka waved at Kawauchi cheerfully. Hayasaka gently nudged at Mafuyu to move towards the door. _You can do it!_ he thought as he gave Kawauchi a sloppy salute.

Kawauchi internally snickered, but played along and gave Hayasaka a serious salute with the straightest face he could manage.

 _These two idiots!_ Mafuyu groaned internally. The rest of the fear of the class turned into dread for Mafuyu. She could practically feel their worry for her stick to her skin as she made her way to face the school's number 2. She sent Hayasaka a quick glare, and was irritated of the expression on his face that felt like he had done something good for humankind. She prepared her nerves as she continued her way to the door.

She quietly closed the door behind her. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, preparing to rant at Kawauchi. Before she could complain to him about doing unnecessary things like _coming over to her classroom,_ she felt a stack of papers hit her head lightly.

"Here," he quietly said, face serious for once, an amiable silence falling between them. Before Mafuyu could even ask what the papers were for, Kawauchi continued.

"I won't be able to teach you today, so here are some notes." Mafuyu was just about to open her mouth to ask him why, when he explained, "I also have other things to do, of course, other than tutor you." He said his last sentence in such an annoying way that only he could that she had no time to be bothered by how fast Kawauchi could understand her thoughts. She made a note to herself to think about it later.

"As if I care."

"Yeah, yeah," Kawauchi replied, waving his hand dismissively as he turned around to leave. He looked really distant at that moment, preoccupied with something. Mafuyu instinctively reached out and caught his wrist.

"Are you okay?"

His glassy eyes quickly returned to focus, and he turned to look at her inquisitively. "Of course. What makes you say I'm not?"

"I didn't mean to run away awhile ago," she found herself muttering, somehow feeling guilty about her actions.

"As if I care," he repeated with hand gestures and a shrug. "Besides, you are going to do me a favor, after the tutoring sessions, right?"

"Only if I pass!"

"Yes, yes. Just make sure you're free the Saturday after the exams, okay? Your field trip is on the week after that anyway."

Mafuyu looked at him piteously. " _Again_ , no, it's not what you think it is," he added, annoyed she was looking at him like that. _You're kind of right this time, though,_ he thought as satisfaction with the smooth flow of his plans washed away his annoyance.

"I'll tell you the details after your exam," he hastily added as he turned to leave again. He couldn't help but grin at his genius planning. "Make sure you're free!"

Mafuyu wasn't able to retort on his denial, since he seemed like he was in a hurry. She brushed it off, and made a mental note to remember the calendar date of the Saturday Kawauchi told her to free.

 _At least, that's just the favor he is asking,_ she let out a relieved breath at the thought, but quickly caught herself. _Wait, what am I sighing in relief for? I should be cautious! This just screams danger all over again,_ she reminded herself. She shook her head as she opened her classroom door.

Her classmates all looked at her nervously, and she had to say that he just gave her papers since a teacher ordered him to so that they would calm down.

.*.

Kawauchi entered a bathroom cubicle somewhere along the strip. He carefully took out another set of uniform from his bag and started changing into them. He was glad he got a Kiyama uniform from the Cultural Festival fiasco a year ago. Not that he usually needed to infiltrate other schools to get the information he wanted. This was a different case, however. He already had the information; he just had to make sure Kiyama will act as he wanted to. Kiyama had pissed him off two times too many, and while Kawauchi loved watching Okegawa fight above anything else, he had other more immediate plans to realize. He won't let a possible turf war due to a new banchou ruin his plans just when things started to get interesting.

He couldn't for the life of him understand why the damn school changed banchous so quickly. Nogami Kento was, _is_ , a more than capable banchou with a good head on his shoulders, and more than what the Kiyama populace deserved. But with what happened the last time Kiyama, some underlings are getting restless again and planned to replace Nogami. This didn't sit well with Kawauchi's plans.

 _But really, losing grip of his gang because of a girl,_ he thought, as he ran over the information he obtained about Kiyama's banchou over his head. _While he's busy following her around, his gang is becoming restless. And yet, he's so oblivious about it._

Kawauchi shook his head at the foolishness of Nogami. _Well, I'm sure Okegawa banchou wouldn't be like that._ When he finished changing, he packed up his things and exited the bathroom. He briefly changed his hairstyle, and immediately proceeded to the nearby payable locker where he placed his bag.

He proceeded to Kiyama, and raised hell.


	10. The Note and the Warning

"Oi, you did get 70 points in all subjects, didn't you?"

Mafuyu looked at Hayasaka while she rested her head on her table. She opened her mouth to speak, and she could imagine her mouth literally spewing out all the things she crammed into her head in the past few weeks.

"Speak coherently, Kurosaki," Hayasaka replied. Her head was spinning with all the information, and the best she could do in response was show him her test papers. He beamed, and celebrated with everybody else. The whole class jumped for joy, and excitedly talked about the field trip that they were going to.

 _I have to tell Kawauchi about this,_ she thought happily. She felt like she really needed to thank him, since it was mostly his notes that helped her.

"Get back to your seats! We still have class," Takaomi shouted over the noise of his students, and at once, everyone scrambled back to their seats.

.*.

"You look horrible."

Kawauchi looked back at Goto and smiled mischievously. "I've never felt better!"

Goto shot him a look as he scanned the bruises that were on Kawauchi's body. There were only a few peeking out from his sleeves and neckline, but he was sure that there were more under his uniform. "I know by now that it's pointless to ask, but what happened?"

"The matter with Kiyama has been taken care of," Kawauchi replied nonchalantly as he brought a piece of _tonkatsu_ to his mouth. They were eating in a clearing somewhere in Midorigaoka. "Is the banchou cutting class again?"

"Yeah, it's not like he actually has to attend class since this is his repeat year," Goto answered and gave him another look, but Kawauchi just shrugged. "Don't change the topic. What happened in Kiyama?"

"I can't tell you anything since nothing really happened. Those guys are a bunch of idiots so it was easy to pit them against each other. I just broke apart the faction who was planning to oust their banchou," Kawauchi explained with a straight face. "All I had to do was pretend to have psychic powers."

Goto stared at him dumbfounded, but he decided against making Kawauchi clarify what he meant by pretending to be psychic. "How did you get the bruises then?"

He turned his head to Goto's direction and looked at him like he was dumb for missing the obvious. "I joined in the fun, of course."

Goto opened his mouth to retort, but before he could utter even a squeak, Kawauchi cut him off. "I'm just kidding; nobody there fights as good as the banchou, so I just told them that. They can't take criticism, as you can see. I put them in their place, though."

He just resolved to keep his mouth shut as Kawauchi continued to eat his lunch. Goto was about to resume eating his lunch when they heard something rustling somewhere far from them. He felt Kawauchi's posture stiffen slightly beside him.

"Oh, isn't that Kurosaki-san?" Goto pointed at the girl that was a good distance away from them. She was looking side-to-side as if she were looking for something.

Kawauchi abruptly stood up. "Hey, if she comes looking for me, give her this paper," he said, "and tell her you don't know where I am". Before Goto could even ask why, Kawauchi had already run away.

.*.

Mafuyu went up to him a few minutes later. "Hello, Goto-senpai! Have you seen Kawauchi-senpai?"

Goto swallowed a bit nervously. "N-n-no, I haven't."

He saw her become crestfallen when she heard his answer. "Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah, I don't know where he went," he said, feeling a little guilty for lying to her. He made up his mind to ask Kawauchi why he ran away. "He did tell me to give this to you if ever you come to me."

Mafuyu perked up and caught Goto by surprise. She quickly got the folded piece of paper from his hands and hurriedly opened it up. In it was Kawauchi's handwritten note. It read:

 

> _Don't forget about Saturday. Same time, same place.  
>  Also, pass by the convenience store near school later. _
> 
> _P.S. No, again, it's_ not _what you think it is._
> 
>  

 

She closed the paper again and smiled. Goto took note of how wide her smile was. _What in the world did Kawauchi put in there?_ He watched Mafuyu tuck it away in her breast pocket carefully.

"Thanks Goto-senpai! Tell him I received his message," she waved as she turned around, leaving Goto alone and somewhat confused.

.*.

Kawauchi wiped away sweat from his brow as he entered the corridor from the school window. For some reason, he found it unwise to show his face to Mafuyu right now. He shrugged it off as just another roadblock to his plans. He was about to get back to class when he was stopped by someone in front of his way.

"Hello, Saeki-sensei," he greeted the teacher before him.

Saeki just looked at him, and Kawauchi was a little unnerved at how intently he was staring at him. After a few minutes of dead silence, Kawauchi decided to pass him by. He was almost at the stairs when he heard the teacher say something.

"You should really hide yourself better," Saeki said as he looked over his shoulder just as Kawauchi stopped, turned around, and faced him.

"What do you mean by that, sensei?"

"A few months ago in Strawberry Heights. Do you remember?"

Kawauchi momentarily froze at what he said, but maintained his composure. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Couldn't believe you'd go all the way to Saitama, either."

Kawauchi could feel himself start to get really irritated with the conversation. He was reminded of Mafuyu and Saeki's moment in Saitama, and he was getting pissed. He put on the most sarcastic smile he could manage. He approached Saeki. When he was near enough, he spat out in a low voice, "I have a few words of advice: I don't think you should be _flirting_ with your student out in the open, even if you both were a few prefectures away."

Saeki put on a wicked grin as well. "So you do know what I'm talking about."

Kawauchi kept his smile on his face, even if he was berating himself on the inside for slipping out that he really did know.

"What does it matter to you, anyway, if we really are like _that_?" Saeki continued, suggestion coloring his voice. Kawauchi paused, and his smile felt like it was frozen in place. He felt his blood boil at the mere insinuation, even if he knew that Mafuyu wasn't involved with Saeki. Or was she? He never really thought about them in that way; all he thought was that they were close. He vaguely recalled thinking that they lived together, but never did he even consider them in _that_ way. He briefly wondered why he didn't even think of that angle the first time he saw them as he felt his chest constrict.

"Just kidding!" Saeki suddenly exclaimed, and Kawauchi was so surprised that his hold on his facial expression slipped. Before he could voice out his surprise, Saeki went on. "You've been fighting outside school grounds. I don't really care what you do. Just make sure you don't get caught," he warned. He eyed Kawauchi threateningly as he added, "and don't get in the way of the Public Morals Club."

He left immediately after he said his piece, and Kawauchi gritted his teeth in frustration. He made a mental note to get back at Saeki for what he did at that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect a new chapter this week or the next. :D


	11. The Saturday Disaster: Restless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please bear with me as I try to get back into writing haha

Goto blinked his eyes open from his sleep. He dreamt that someone was watching him as he slept and it freaked him out. When his eyes finally came to focus, the first thing that greeted him was two owlish eyes that stared at him from the darkness.

His first instinct was to sink himself deeper into his mattress in fear. When he finally regained his wits, he realized that it was just Kawauchi holding a pot and ladle far apart, as if he was about to clang them together.

"Oh, you're awake," Kawauchi said flatly as he slowly hid the utensils he was holding.

It took him a while to find his voice. "You were going to use those to wake me up?!"

"Yeah. Took me a while before I was able to sneak them out of the kitchen," he replied as he unceremoniously grabbed and pulled Goto's blanket off his body. Goto fell off the bed along with it.

He shot Kawauchi a dark glare as he rubbed his eyes. He looked at the clock on his bedside table with squinted eyes. "It's only 8:28 am."

"Yeah. So?" Kawauchi replied, not a shred of remorse visible on his features.

"It's Saturday," Goto tried, but when Kawauchi only gave him a blank stare, he settled on gritting his teeth in frustration. "Why," he forced the word out of his mouth, annoyance overtaking his usual genial personality, "are you here?"

Kawauchi grinned innocently at him, and at once he knew that it was going to be a long day.

.*.

"Why did you make me wear this?" Goto asked, fixing the baseball cap he had on his head. The cap was starting to get itchy around his forehead, and the varsity jacket he was wearing was getting too humid for his liking.

"Shh," Kawauchi replied as they crept to the corner of an alley. He was also wearing a disguise, choosing to wear a windbreaker with a baseball cap.

"I'm tired," Goto complained. They had been trooping around the strip for the last hour or so, and Goto was just too tired and sleepy to ask any questions yet in the beginning. All the walking woke him up, though, and he wanted answers. "Why are we even doing this?"

Instead, what he got as a reply was a quick tug on his arm before he was pulled by Kawauchi into the shade just as Okegawa passed by the street across the alley they were in. Before he could open his mouth, Kawauchi's hand was already covering it firmly. He only managed to squeak a muffled protest.

"Why is he wearing that? He's supposed to throw it far away when she loses control," Kawauchi muttered as he gritted his teeth. Goto followed his line of sight to find that he was staring at the glasses that were on Okegawa's face. He gaped incredulously at Kawauchi for reacting so harshly against it. Kawauchi's grip on him slackened, and he took the opportunity to free himself and voice out his frustration. "Wait, weren't you the one who gave - ah what am I saying - did you drag me all the way here to  _spy_ on Okegawa banchou?" he asked in a hushed tone.

Kawauchi looked at him like he just asked a stupid question. "Of course. Why else will I make you tag along?"

He found himself gaping at him for the second time in about five minutes. He raised his finger to comment on how ridiculous Kawauchi was being when a girl approaching Okegawa came into his field of vision. "Isn't that─" he began, but stopped as he tried to put two and two together.

"What is  _she_ wearing?" Kawauchi said as he clucked, eyeing Mafuyu as she went to say hello to the banchou. Only then did Goto finally piece things together.

"You dragged me all the way here to spy on Okegawa banchou  _while he's on a date?"_ he asked, raising his voice this time. Unfortunately, the sound caught Okegawa's attention. He stared at the alley where Goto and Kawauchi were. Luckily, Kawauchi's reflexes were fast enough. He managed to hide both himself and Goto. Coupled with Goto's luck, they managed to avoid sparking more of Okegawa'a interest.

.*.

Mafuyu was starting to become restless. It was already a quarter past ten, and from the little she knew from Kawauchi, he was not the type of person to be late. She was pacing around the strip when she noticed a familiar figure near her.

"Banchou!" Mafuyu exclaimed as she saw her friend approach. She froze when she saw the thing on his nose.

"Morse," he replied, temporarily placing aside the hunch that someone was following him. He noticed right away that something was off. "What's wrong?"

"That-" she began, just starting to motion to the glasses he was wearing when she stopped herself. "Uh, it's nothing!" she replied, her voice becoming slightly shrill.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, sorry, I just, uh, I remembered something unpleasant," she said.  _It's not really a lie, though._

"I see," Okegawa replied, still not fully convinced. "What are you doing here?"

Mafuyu paused when Okegawa asked the question. She was about to open her mouth to say that she was waiting for somebody, but something inside her made her think twice about doing so. She couldn't quite understand why she felt that way. It was easy to say that she was waiting for Kawauchi, and that was the truth, but-

"Morse? Are you sure you're okay?" he repeated, and only then did Mafuyu realize that she was lost in her thoughts for more than a little while. "Nothing really, just running some errands," she hastily replied.

Okegawa looked at her disbelievingly. "You sure?"

She nodded to answer. He looked at her closely, as if examining her. When he surmised that she was telling the truth, he perked up. "So, um…"

"Banchou?" she asked.

He hesitated for while before sputtering out what he wanted to say. "Then, then wanna go watch Nekomata-san's commentary with me? We never got to watch it back then because of, you know."

Mafuyu was just about to say no when he continued on. "Like said before, it contains 120 minutes of his commentary, and uh um," he gushed, and at this point he was already slightly shaking Mafuyu in excitement.

At that moment, Mafuyu really wished that she had something important to ask like the last time Banchou asked her to watch Nekomata. It wasn't like she was really against watching the sleep-inducing story again (she really couldn't even begin to imagine what the commentary even contains), but she really didn't want to do it right now, not when-

Again she drew a blank. While she was puzzled by how puzzled she was, he started jogging along in excitement as he held her wrist, effectively dragging her along with him albeit unintentionally.

.*.

Both Kawauchi and Goto let out a sigh of relief when Okegawa shifted his attention away from them. Goto finally caught a breath of fresh air as soon as Kawauchi let go of his hold over his mouth. It was the second time in less than five minutes. It was the  _second_  second time Kawauchi did something in more or less five minutes, and it was throwing him for a loop.

"They're moving. C'mon," Kawauchi said as he quickly and stealthily made his way to the direction where the two went. Okegawa was picking up his pace, and Kawauchi started speeding up as well, leaving Goto to clumsily follow along; his legs lumbering.

"So you really did bring me along to follow them, huh" Goto said, a statement of fact more than an inquiry, punctuated by gasps of air he took when he had a chance. It really was too early for him to do any running at all. It was too early. On a  _Saturday_! "Why do you want to follow Banchou while he's on a date anyway? He will kill us, y'know."

Kawauchi abruptly stopped, and Goto, unaware, found his face suddenly buried on Kawauchi's back. Before he could even react to the fact that he felt like his nose got flattened by the impact, he was once again maneuvered into an alley as Okegawa and Kurosaki came to a sudden halt.

"It's not like he knows."

"What do you mean he doesn't know?"

"I mean exactly what I said," Kawauchi replied, matter-of-factly, and fixed his gaze towards Okegawa and Kurosaki again. They were outside the movie theater, waiting for their turn at the counter. Goto sighed because he didn't see why Kawauchi was that interested.

Goto gave Kawauchi a blank face. He couldn't understand. Without facing him, Kawauchi responded, a sigh evident in his voice. "Banchou doesn't know that he is on a date."

Kawauchi immediately covered Goto's mouth before he could react loudly. "I didn't think he would ask her out right away. Maybe I underestimated him," he continued.  _It seems like they've already done this before. Am I just meddling? Maybe Okegawa already asked her out before._

Kawauchi didn't notice that his grip on Goto loosened to the point that he easily slipped out of his hold. "Ah really, stop covering my mouth everytime! Hey! Don't ignore me," he warned. "If Banchou doesn't know they are on a date, then why are they going to the movies right now?"

"Like I said, I don't know either," Kawauchi replied. It was obvious to Goto that Kawauchi was lost in his own thoughts. He sighed. "Why did you even bring me along? You usually do sketchy stuff like this alone."

"'Cause I needed luck today. I wouldn't have brought you along if I didn't."

Goto sighed again. "You really don't make sense sometimes."

.*.

When Mafuyu snapped out of her reverie, both she and Banchou were already at the ticket line. "Huh?" she wondered out loud. She looked at Banchou.

"Sorry," he muttered feebly. "When I thought about finally watching Nekomata's commentary, my feet moved on its own.

"Don't worry that much about it," she replied. She shouldn't have left the area where she was supposed to meet Kawauchi. She brought out her cellphone and flipped through her contact list, but remembered that she didn't have his phone number.

She was supposed to excuse herself when Banchou spoke. "A-anyway," he cleared his throat. "Since we're already here, why don't we watch?"

"That may not-" she began, fully intent on saying that it wasn't a good idea and that she needed to go somewhere. But all it took was Banchou's crestfallen face for her to do a 180. "-may not actually be a bad idea!" She laughed shakily after that, internally fretting over her decision.

.*.

Goto and Kawauchi stared at the tickets the ticket seller held for them to see. "This is the movie they are watching."

Kawauchi paused for a while before he took out his wallet. "Okay. We'll take two."

"Hey, are you serious?" Goto turned to the cashier. "You're just kidding, right?"

The girl just rolled her eyes as she punched in Kawauchi's tickets. "Here you go."

Kawauchi wordlessly took the tickets and went in the theater house. Goto followed suit. "I don't understand why we have to go into the theater with them. Aren't they just going to do what ordinary couples do while in a moviehouse?"

His question was ignored as Kawauchi continued on to the theater that showed the Nekomata movie. When he opened the door, they both taken aback by what they saw.

"Most of the people are asleep!" Goto exasperatedly whispered as they went inside. They settled on sitting at the very back row of the theater.

Not even a minute had passed after they had sat down when Goto began snoring loudly. Kawauchi looked at him in disbelief at how fast Goto had fallen asleep. He shrugged it off; focused on locating Mafuyu and Okegawa.

They sat somewhere in the middle, with Okegawa clearly touched by what was playing on the screen, and Mafuyu reluctantly trying to calm him down. He thought he should be happy that his plan had no hitches so far. Heck, it was even going better than expected, with Okegawa taking the initiative and Mafuyu just going along. But as he sat there watching from the back row, he felt oddly restless.

He started dozing off. After all, he had woken up early that day; made sure no one from Kiyama would interfere. In retrospect, his attack on Kiyama a few days ago was a wrong move and a miscalculation. He hated people getting payback from him, and what he did was a good reason to illicit such response from the enemy. But even rival factions can't stand in the way of his concocted plan. He made sure of that. He had scouted the area and made sure no delinquent went past him. He even brought Goto along when he usually wouldn't! Everything was going well.

 _Maybe it's because things are going_ too  _well,_ he reasoned with himself; the last thought on his mind before he drifted off to a light sleep.

.*.

He woke up just as the people started exiting the cinema. Kawauchi shook Goto awake. "Hey, the movie's ended. They're leaving now."

They rushed out and resumed tailing them. Fortunately, they managed to catch them when they were still near the movie house.

"I can't believe she made it through the entire movie without falling asleep. I kind of expected Banchou to like those kinds of things, but I didn't expect her to make it," Goto said as they started walking, tracing the path Banchou and Mafuyu walked on.

Kawauchi reckoned they were going to the arcade. The nap he took at the theater didn't sit well with him. He was more irritable now than before he slept.

"They sort of complement each other, don't you think?" Goto continued, his pace unhurried. It was starting to irk Kawauchi off.

"And you said that their meeting today was unplanned. Are you sure? Doesn't seem like -"

Kawauchi abruptly stopped walking, and for the second time that day, Goto bumped face first into his back. "They were  _not_ supposed to meet today," he retorted, and even he was surprised at the forcefulness of his voice.

"Hey, calm down."

"I - ah - forget it," he said. He started to walk in the direction where Mafuyu and Okegawa went when they saw a couple of guys in an alley. They were also looking at the direction where the other two went.

"Aren't they from...?" Goto asked as he exchanged a glance with Kawauchi. Wordlessly, they both decided to follow the group.


	12. The Saturday Disaster: Déjà Vu

"So this is why you made me tag along," Goto wheezed out. The man who was supposed to hit his back lay on the floor after slipping on a banana peel. He was the last delinquent in the four-member Kiyama group that they had seen after stepping out of the theater. The jacket Goto was wearing was now unbearable. He carefully peeled it away from his body and tied it around his waist.

Kawauchi panted as he wiped away the sweat on his face with the sleeve of his windbreaker. "Guess your luck wasn't strong enough to prevent this from happening."

They dispatched the group quickly. He sighed in relief and started walking towards the direction where Mafuyu and Okegawa went. Kawauchi hoped they had not yet gotten too far. He needed to trail them. "Hey!" Goto exclaimed when he saw how fast Kawauchi was moving, but was unnoticed. He only slowed down once the pair was once again in their sight, and by then, Goto had him within his reach and grasped his arm.

"Calm down," he said. They made sure to keep their distance sufficient enough to make sure they won't be seen. "Why are you so agitated?"

Kawauchi only gritted his teeth in reply and Goto scratched his head in frustration. 

"I didn't scout hard enough," he finally let out. "This wasn't supposed to happen. I shouldn't have..." he trailed off.

Goto patted him on the back in an effort to make Kawauchi loosen his tightly clenched fists. He couldn't understand why Kawauchi was deeply affected by this. They were talking about the Banchou, after all.

As if he finally understood something, he blurted out, "Don't worry, he's with her."

Kawauchi froze. "What do you mean?" he asked, his face a perfect example of obliviousness. But Goto saw how his grip relaxed ever so lightly. At that point, he knew how dense Kawauchi really was. All he could do was look at him with pity.

"... I don't like how you're looking at me."

He patted him on the back again. "Don't worry, I've got your back. Hang in there!"

Kawauchi just stared at him blankly, confusion evident on his face. He was supposed to probe Goto further, but they heard crash somewhere near them.

"You don't think...?" Goto asked, glancing at Kawauchi and coming to an agreement to go to the source of the noise.

.*.

They had just parted ways. Mafuyu had hastily said goodbye when she finally found the right time to say she had somewhere else to go. As she expected, Banchou didn't mind all that much, but she still felt guilty. She had been preoccupied the whole time, after all. However, she couldn't deny the relief took over her senses as they finally said goodbye, because she could finally look for  _him._

She had only walked a few steps when she found herself taken hostage by someone. She was whirled around and in front of her was the sight of Banchou easily taking care of the students who were attacking him.

_Crap._

Okegawa's eyes widened when he saw her, and his slight moment of distraction was enough for one of the students to use a board to hit him on the head.

"Banchou!" she screamed. She knew that the blow Banchou took was not enough to take him down, but she felt the anger rise inside her- she hesitated. She had lasted one year and a half avoiding fights as Mafuyu Kurosaki; she felt like crying. She doesn't want to blow her cover. She'd tried too hard-

She couldn't understand what the students were saying. She was hearing them, but she wasn't comprehending anything. Her mind was going overdrive trying to decide whether she beat them all up and expose herself and what she is or stay put and pray that Banchou understands that she didn't need him to hesitate he was a banchou after all he put might above all else didn't he and wasn't hesitation a sign of weakness and she was a nobody-

Banchou didn't move. Another student brought out another weapon from his behind. 

She snapped. Mafuyu could easily handle all of them. She started to move, but was startled by a loud sound near her. Wind blew on her face from the force of the person who took down the student who was holding her. She turned around.

"Are you okay?" Kawauchi asks after he fixed his posture. Her captor was on the road now. Before she could react, she felt Banchou's aura rise behind her. She spun her head to see what seemed to be the start of a massacre.

 "Yikes! You better leave now," Goto told her as he gently urged her to run to the nearest alley.

"No, I'm okay-" she said feebly.

"Just go with her," Kawauchi told Goto, and he gave her a look that told her to just do as he said. She stared at him blankly, still reeling from the thoughts that went through her mind a few moments ago.

.*.

Goto was staring at her intently. They had gone a few blocks away from the alley where Banchou was fighting. Mafuyu was starting to become uncomfortable.

"They're taking too long, aren't they?" she asked. Sitting down for too long - it wasn't actually that long but she wanted to do something - made her butt hurt, and she wanted to go back to the place. She mentally scolds herself for making such an elementary mistake like being too distracted to respond properly to someone sneaking up on her.

"Banchou is probably still fuming," he answered, finally looking away from her. She let out a sigh of relief, but when she looked at his direction, he was once again staring at her.

It took another awkward minute of silence before he spoke. "You know, we once had a gang brother who went out of his way everyday to go down and up the mountains," he started, but was cut off by the ringing of his phone. Mafuyu took a deep breath, thankful that she was saved by the call.

"Ah... He's done?" Goto asked as he stood up. "Okay. See you in a few."

He turned to Mafuyu. "Kawauchi called. I have to go. They went ahead to the dorm," he told her as he pocketed his phone. She felt a little irritated Kawauchi didn't even meet her, but nodded in response. Mafuyu expected him to leave right away, but he again just stared at her.

"... You know, we once had a gang brother who went out of his way everyday to go down and up the mountains."

She really wanted to avoid having to listen to his story, but she reckoned that he won't leave until he got to tell it. "Really? Why?"

"He was a mysterious person. He would disappear suddenly. We all knew what he was doing, but we pretended we didn't. We knew he liked buying chocolates in the next town. He would always deny it, but we knew he would do _anything_ to make sure he always did."

"Isn't that a little too excessive?" she asked, her curiosity genuinely piqued.

"He liked seeing the view there."

"The view?"

"He liked seeing a transgender woman who worked there."

"Really -- wait. Don't tell me it's the same woman from before?"

Goto nodded solemnly in reply.

"You're kidding right?"

He shook his head to signify that he wasn't. She waited for him to continue, but when it looked like he wasn't planning on continuing, she asked, "And then what?"

"What do you mean 'what'?"

"What happened next?"

"Nothing," he replied as he turned around and started walking.

"Why did you even tell me?" she asked, exasperation evident in her voice. He continued walking. She never got a reply. 

After the frustration of her conversation with Goto melted away, she started to feel... happy. Mafuyu scratched her head and mussed up her hair.

Normally, she had no problem with being happy, but this time, she couldn't figure out why she was happy. A lot of things happened in a span of a few hours, from accompanying Banchou to being taken hostage to Kawauchi making her go away to avoid the battle -

Baffled, she resigned to spend the rest of her afternoon in town to let out her frustration at not finding out why she felt happy.

.*.

The sun was just about read to set when Kawauchi reached the plaza. It was a long shot that she was still there, but he went anyway just in case she was still there. He had been feeling agitated since this morning, and the fight with Kiyama just made him even angrier. He was frustrated at how much his planned date for Banchou and Mafuyu failed.

He should have just agreed when Banchou said he wanted to go meet Mafuyu after the one-sided fight. But something stopped Kawauchi and made him tell Banchou to just go back to the dorm instead. He made some lame excuse about the situation being too dangerous for her, even if he knew that the beating Banchou gave the Kiyama insurgents was enough to make them stop completely.

Kawauchi tried to calm himself down by thinking that at the very least, he managed to deal with the Kiyama fiasco. It wasn't how he wanted to deal with it, but it solved the problem, so he couldn't care less about how he achieved his goal. Aside from the botched ending, the date between the two was successful.

So why was he so irritated?

It must have been Mafuyu's misconception of what was supposed to happen that afternoon. He felt unsettled that she must have thought that they were the ones supposed to be on a date. He tried to convince himself that that was it, because he really couldn't think of another logical reason why he would feel so irritated.

He was just imagining how he would gloat at her for her wrong idea when he passed by the arcade. He saw a figure near his left. He turned his head to get a better look, and it was-

It was Mafuyu.

He put on the straightest face he could manage. "Hey."

She stopped dead in her tracks. "Hey," she replied.

Kawauchi noticed that she was a little too timid. He found himself curious as to why she was like that, but his gloating should come first. He tried to think of where to start.

He took a sweeping glance at Mafuyu, and remembered his first reaction when he saw her that morning. "Why aren't you wearing your dress and your wig today? Tired of pretending to be someone else?"

She scoffed. "You're just not worth the time," she humphed and turned her head. "Do you know how much effort it takes to get maracas on? Aki always takes too long!"

"Wait, so someone else puts on your make-up for you?" he asked, and found himself breaking into a smile. "Aren't you supposed to know how to put it on yourself?"

Her cheeks reddened. "O-of course I do!"

Her reaction told him that she didn't, and he found himself laughing softly despite himself. She was obviously annoyed by it.

"Give me your phone," she said abruptly. He paused for a while at the sudden request, but started laughing again because of how out of the blue it was. He thought she must be really desperate to change the topic.

"Why should I?"

"Just give me the phone," she repeated, and this time he obliged. She typed something in his phone, and gave it back to him.

"What's this?"

"It's my number."

"Why would I want this?" he said with a straight face. "We're not even friends."

She looked like she was genuinely hurt by the comment. He felt his spirits quickly sink at her expression. He hastily added, "I'm just kidding, of course," in what he hoped was an equally straight face.

"That was mean!" Mafuyu let out sigh of annoyance. He let go of the breath he didn't know he was holding. She fished her pocket for her phone and handed it to him.

"What do I do with this?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Key in your number, of course!"

He flipped through her phone address book to add a new contact with his details. "You only have 6 numbers."

"Shut up."

He typed in his phone number and gave it back to her. They stood a few minutes in silence after that, since it looked like Mafuyu wanted to say something. He was supposed to already say goodbye when she spoke.

"Hey..."

"What?"

"I just wanted to," she began, but mumbled the rest. Kawauchi gave her a quizzical look. She took a peek but quickly looked at her feet again. She took a deep breath. Just when he was about to ask again, she spoke.

"Thank you," she beamed, and Kawauchi swore he saw the smile before. The circumstances were probably different, and his memory was hazy, but he knew. Mafuyu was smiling herself stupid. Kawauchi didn't think it was possible, but there she was, beaming at him like there was no tomorrow.

He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He was thankful he still managed to keep his calm demeanor. "What for?"

She hesitated, but she timidly replied. "A while ago. You saved me."

He scoffed. "As if you need saving. You could have easily beaten them up like what Banchou did."

She laughed, and there she went again, smiling that stupid smile. "It still means a lot to me."

He took a small step backward and turned around. "Like I said, it's nothing," he waved off while walking, as if trying to dismiss what he did and as a haphazard way of abruptly saying goodbye.

"Take care," she called out, but he didn't look back. He just kept walking, trying to reason with himself that he was starting to become flushed because he was just too tired.

He only remembered he was supposed to gloat at her when he was already back in his dorm.


	13. In His Fantasy, He Dreams About Her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter ahead; cut it into two, so the next _needs_ to be up soon. Haha reminding myself now.

The first thing he noticed was the unusual outfit she was wearing. He had meant to ask her why she chose to wear it, but he shrugged it off. That was what she wanted to wear, so why bother asking? It was her choice. He wanted to trace the gap between her thigh high socks and her shorts, though. He was a healthy adolescent boy after all, and he was sorely tempted, but he pulled away his eyes and looked at the ground instead.

The girl in front of him felt familiar. Too familiar. It would have been awkward and wrong to ogle at her whoever she was. But the sense of familiarity made him further uneasy. His head was throbbing. She was talking, and he was talking, but nothing was registering in his head. He knew what was happening; this probably happened before, but he can't remember.

What was her name again? Her name was in the back of his head. His vision was hazy, and he couldn't hear a thing. He should find it strange, he thought, but his mind was too sluggish to think of any reason at all.

"... you."

She spoke, but that was the only thing he caught. He squinted, desperately trying to make his senses more awake. She started to speak again, and he tried to hear her better. for some reason, his head became a little clearer, and he finally looked at the girl.

"It still means a lot to me," Mafuyu smiled, and he -

.*.

Kawauchi's alarm clock blared through his ears. He was jolted awake. Kawauchi rubbed his temples. He took a look at his alarm, and was mildly surprised to realize that he managed to snooze his way to being late to class. Homeroom was already ongoing.

He thought nothing of it. The best part of being a delinquent, after all, was that nobody exactly expected him to come to class anyway. He threw himself back to his bed. He might as well sleep again and just go to class later. He tossed and turned, but felt uncomfortable when he remembered that he had another dream.

He wanted to remember what the hell it was all about, but something was stopping him. The frustration at his inability to make up his mind made him stand up and get out of bed. He dragged himself up and decided to just rush to his classroom. He would rather get bored to death inside in class with something to distract him than wander around with nothing to keep him preoccupied.

.*.

He had completely missed homeroom, and only reached the room just in time for his math class. Kawauchi quietly sneaked into his seat. He didn't heed the looks his classmates sent him, even those of Goto's. As expected, Banchou didn't really care, gazing instead at the window.

Contrary to his expectations, Saeki didn't unleash hell when he entered the room. Kawauchi was reminded that Saeki joined the second years in their fieldtrip. The substitute continued writing something on the board. He continued long enough for Kawauchi's mind to wander, even if it were against his wishes.

_So she's not here..._

He had dreamt of Mafuyu. He knew that, and he really wasn't in the habit of fooling himself. The dream itself wasn't that bad; it had happened just last Saturday after all. What he was worried about was the ending that got cut off. He was supposed to do something in his dream, but he didn't know what it was.

The teacher was talking while writing down something. "Let f be a continuous function on an open interval bounded by a and b, where a, b is an element of the set of real numbers. And the function has only one relative extremum..."

Maybe it was something extreme. But what kind of extreme?

"... say c, in (a,b). If c is a relative maximum or minimum..."

Did he do something relatively extreme? Was it positive or negative? Did he make a fool out of himself?

"... then f has an absolute maximum or minimum, respectively, at c."

The teacher turned around abruptly, snapping Kawauchi back to the lesson. "Where do you suppose we are going to apply this theorem? Anyone?" he asked the class. It was evident that most of his classmates were relaxed because Saeki wasn't the one teaching. He scanned through the faces of his students. Kawauchi barely stifled a yawn.

His thoughts drifted to what Mafuyu was doing instead. He kept on remembering that Saeki was probably with her, and he could just imagine his annoying face. His substitute teacher droning on and on about math just reminded him. He tried to erase his thoughts, and tried to focus on her instead. Knowing her, she was probably doing something stupid.

Maybe she was trying to find something to eat. Maybe she ran into people who knew who she was, and was trying her hardest to hide it. But she was most likely with Hayasaka-san and the glasses, trying to catch their attention by doing more stupid things. He fought back a laugh, and then it dawned on him-

-that he was thinking about her too much.


	14. His Type

Walking was a pain, he thought as he continued doing the motions of his everyday routine. Walking made his mind wander around, and when it did, he remembered what he was remembering just that morning, in math class; the flash of purple eyes-

He shook his head as he tried to put the memory aside. He really ought to censor himself. He was putting tremendous effort in trying to listen to whatever it was Goto was saying to him and Okegawa as they made their way to the cafeteria. He was succeeding, but fate just won't hand it to him. A voice cut through the air, and Kawauchi whipped around, expecting to see a person who was likely to be with that voice. Shibuya frantically dashed towards them. When Kawauchi saw that there was no grey-brown hair following him, he remembered that she was gone for 3 more days. He berated himself inside for expecting... _something,_ and only then did Aki's message get across his clouded brain.

"Kyon-kyon Okegawa Banch-" Shibuya shouted, and just like clockwork, the three strongest delinquents of Midorigaoka aimed for his head. The distraction was something Kawauchi was grateful for, he thought as he roared "stop that!" with Goto and Okegawa.

.*.

Kawauchi made a promise to himself to not think at all that night. He had already spent the day wearing himself thin by finding new and novel ways of trying not to think about ****** _._ Even roughing up Shibuya did not help him that much, since he was smiling the whole time and looking relieved like the three of them had just saved him from imminent death.

"Sure is empty without the second years," he heard Goto chimed in out of the blue. The mere mention of second years almost triggered what Kawauchi was avoiding, but he managed to control himself. He continued walking in silence together with Okegawa and Goto.

Goto continued speaking, not realizing that neither he nor Okegawa was going to respond to him. "Since the R.A. isn't here, there's no one to bother us too. Right, Okegawa?"

Okegawa absentmindedly mumbled a reply. Kawauchi was half expecting him to try and make Okegawa reply, but it never came. He looked around and saw Goto hunched over, preoccupied with something obscured from his line of vision.

When he approached where Goto was looking at, he was surprised to see a girl. Normally, he'd exclaim something like delinquents don't call things or people cute, but he couldn't, not in his state of mind. Instead he just sighed and patted her head, giving her some snacks he had saved for Okegawa. He gave her a once-over, and realized that she was just his type. Petite, dainty. And by the way she was studying him, she was the type to want to be protected.

Or so that was what he thought, when it seemed clear to him that she wanted to be brought somewhere. He decided to play along. What was there to lose, anyway? He hoisted her up his shoulders and ran after Shibuya without giving anything too much thought.

****** wasn't like the girl on his shoulders. There was nothing dainty about her. At all. She wasn't as needy, as readable - he was getting annoyed at how decidedly more often his thoughts lead back to her - or even as pretty as this girl. And he was willing to bet that he was the type to be smitten by her, and would probably be willing to do whatever she wanted, a little like what he was doing right now. But he knew that this time was different, because he was thinking of -

He charged through Shibuya's door. "I'm disappointed in you," he said absentmindedly, unsure of whom he was talking to. He put down the girl - he could see the barely concealed joy on her face when she saw Shibuya - and went outside the door. Normally, he'd linger and listen to their conversation, but today he just wanted to...

... he didn't even know what he wanted.

.*.

Why was he even thinking of her? He was in front of the door of his and Goto's room. He didn't even notice he had traveled that far. He knew that no one was waiting for him there. He turned around and started to go to the direction of Okegawa's -

Realization hit him like a ton of bricks hurling towards him at breakneck speed. He had been too absorbed with his thoughts these past few days and had forgotten something important. The reason why he started doing all of this anyway. He folded his knees and sat.

He went over his thoughts. He wanted to find out what was up with the girl Banchou was following around. He found out that she was as strong as him and followed her around. He also tried to set her up with a date with Banchou, which all backfired horribly. Yet he knew, deep inside, that he was a little relieved. At the same time, guilt and disappointment pricked at him, constantly threatening to engulf him whole, asking the same question over and over again.

 _Why? Why was he relieved?_ He repeated in his head. He should have bounced back immediately; thought of another way to bring Banchou and Mafuyu together. Why was he even thinking about his type awhile ago? Wasn't all of this for Okegawa anyway?

"This is all so confusing," he mumbled and tousled his hair. He knew that the answers to his questions was already there inside his head. He just needed to confront them. He took a deep breath, and prepared himself.

"Maybe," he stopped, trying to look for the right words.

"I like Okegawa?" he said quietly, just as Goto passed by him as he was entering their dorm room. His little confession caused Goto to stop and stare at him. He returned the stare. After a little while of staring at each other wordlessly, he abruptly stood up and grabbed the doorknob. He was just about to twist it open when he was intercepted by Goto's fast hand clamping down on his arm.

"You didn't hear anything," he seethed through gritted teeth.

"But I did," Goto replied. Kawauchi just turned his head and looked at the floor, anywhere except him. Goto just laughed lightheartedly - and Kawauchi swore he almost wanted to hit him - and loosened his grip on his arm.

"Want to talk about it?"


	15. Missing Objects

He entered the room and was glad nobody was there. Kawauchi let out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding. He never fully recovered after what Goto insinuated that night.

The idea was ridiculous. So ridiculous, in fact, he involuntary threw a pillow at Goto when the words left his mouth. His earlier theory made more sense, even if it was as far-fetched as Goto’s was. The thought never crossed his mind. All of the things he had done so far was for Banchou and Banchou alone, and for Goto to suggest that was –

He was too deep in thought to notice that she was staring at him. He almost jumped back at his surprise when she spoke.

“Long time no see,” Mafuyu greeted him. She was poking her head through the door and was rummaging through it when her greeting registered through his head.

“Stop staring!” he exclaimed, as it dawned upon him that he was inside the boys’ bathroom, and she was technically peeping. In his panic, he ran out of the door and half-tackled her down to the floor. He tumbled, stumbling a few feet away from her and her now scattered souvenirs. To his relief, the corridor was mostly empty, and the few people who were around didn’t seem to notice.

“That hurt,” she wailed, holding her forehead in her hand as she hastily rose to her feet. He followed suit.

“You weren’t even supposed to be there!” he shouted back, nursing a bump of his own. “What would you have done if there was someone else in there?!” he hissed.

“I checked, no one was,” she replied indignantly as she started picking up the fallen snacks. To his surprise, she held out a box to him.

“What’s this?” he dumbly asked.

“A souvenir, duh.”

“… Sushi and chocolate red bean jam buns?” he asked disbelievingly, before thoughts of what he was previously thinking about flooded his head. “How did you find me anyway?”

“Goto-san told me.”

 _Damn him,_ he swore internally. But before he could react further, she was already on her way. “Sorry, I need to give these to the Public Morals Club members, too!” she waved goodbye.

He was too busy with the sinking feeling in his chest to be happy with their short encounter.

.*.

  


_Something is missing_ , he thought, as he chewed on a bun. If he thought of it as one full meal with dessert, the monstrosity that Mafuyu gave him wasn’t that bad. And yet, he still couldn’t help but think that there was something missing to it.

The sinking feeling earlier that noon never really went away. During the afternoon, it would ebb away whenever he’d see a flash of short brown hair, but would quickly return when he realized that it wasn’t really what he was expecting.

He had taken a big bite just as Goto entered his dorm room. “What’s that?”

“None of your business,” Kawauchi replied, trying to convey his disdain for his friend as much as possible even with his mouth full. He hastily swallowed and mumbled, “this is all your fault.”

Goto seemed to not have heard and picked up the box of buns instead. “The hell is this? Didn’t know you had such weird tastes.”

Kawauchi was too tired to wittily retort and just waved his hand away so Goto could get a clue to leave him alone. This had the opposite effect, and it was evident in his face that he wouldn’t stop talking until Kawauchi caved in and spilled whatever it was that was bothering him. Kawauchi was almost resigned to his fate when his door suddenly opened.

A frantic-looking Banchou shut up both Goto and his thoughts. Before either of them could say a word, Banchou had already stormed through his cabinet.

“What’s wrong?” Goto asked, and even if he neither halted nor paused, Banchou replied.

“It’s missing,” he said simply, and before they could prod further, Banchou had already left the room after ransacking its every nook and cranny.

The two of them ran after him as he went to the next room to find whatever it was he was missing. As they were leaving the room, Kawauchi saw a flash of glasses from the corner of his eye. The night was hectic to say the least, but Kawauchi wouldn’t be ready for the shock he would receive the next day.


	16. Revelations

After the ruckus Banchou caused had died down, Kawauchi did what he did best: gather information. The slight glint of the glasses he saw made him feel like he needed to find out who that person was. The feeling nagged at him incessantly, and a sense of foreboding started to build up in his chest.

He welcomed the change of pace. His mind had been too caught up with things he’d much rather ignore than confront, like how he still wanted to get back at Goto for putting silly ideas in his head. After asking around for a bit, he found out that the person wasn’t from their dorm.

Kawauchi did the next logical step and scouted dorm 2. At least, that was the plan. A familiar face found him hiding in the bushes.

“Oh, it’s you,” the person said, and it took him awhile before it registered on his head that he was a student council member.

“What are you doing there?” Ayabe asked after his intial shock, his face now expressing wariness at whatever it was Kawauchi was doing in the bushes.

“Gathering information,” he nonchalantly replied.

“Well, it’s still too early to cause trouble,” Ayabe warned, threat in his tone.

“Same could be said of you. You’re still outside the premises even if it’s still a little early before students are allowed to leave the dorm.”

He saw Ayabe tighten his grip on his broom. “I’m just doing some sweeping. None of your business. Besides, I’m the dorm manager.”

Kawauchi straightened up and faced him head on. “I’m just looking for a person who might have taken something important from someone close to me, y’know what I mean?” he replied, trying to convey that he wanted to compromise.

“What made you check this dorm instead of yours?”

Kawauchi shrugged. “Because I’m me.”

Ayabe seemed to be slightly pissed off. “I’m just gonna report you.”

“Aw, come on,” he pouted. “I just want some help.”

“Fine. But before that, I want to ask _you_ something,” Ayabe said. Kawauchi gave a slight nod to acknowledge that he was free to do so.

“You,” Ayabe hesitated, and it’s not something Kawauchi could miss, “you’ve been so close to Kurosaki-san these days...”

The familiar restlessness returned to him with a vengeance, and he could feel something boiling inside of him. He did not like being asked about _her._ That was the only moment he realized it. Something about Ayabe asking him about her was irking him off, and the intensity of his feelings caught him a little off-guard.

“And?” he answered, trying to keep his voice as calm as he could even if he thought it would betray what he felt any moment now.

He didn’t know if he didn’t successfully control his facial expression or not, but Ayabe suddenly changed his mind. “Never mind. Forget it.”

“Can I ask you now?” Kawauchi replied, feeling like their conversation had already dragged on for too long for his comfort.

“Yeah, go on.”

“He wore glasses,” he said simply.

“Well, that’s helpful,” Ayabe half-sneered.

“Obviously, I’m not yet done,” he retorted as he racked his brain for more clues. “He also had an aura like he’s always hiding, and yet it’s obvious that he’s there. But for that moment, it was difficult to actually catch him, like he’s doing the opposite.”

“You’re not making any sense,” Ayabe replied, and Kawauchi didn’t protest because he thought that too. But it was precisely how he’d describe the person in glasses he saw, and he could think of no other way to describe him.

Ayabe looked like he had a eureka moment after a lengthy pause. “Maybe you’re looking for Yui-san?”

“Yui-san?” he repeated, and then it hit him. He was already running when he heard Ayabe shout out something to him. “Thanks for the help!” he shouted back. What was important at that moment was that he got back to the dorm and talked to the Banchou.

.*.

  


“I’ve already quit the Public Morals Club,” Banchou told him plainly. Kawauchi was floored. He did not expect that.

“What?” he asked weakly. He had just started talking about the glasses dude to him when he suddenly clammed up and announced that he had already resigned from the club. “Why?”

“No reason,” he replied.

“Is this about your missing pige-”

“I said,” Banchou cut him off, “I have no reason.” And Kawauchi knew that was that. He would no longer be able to get anymore information from him. He could only watch as Banchou left him.

But he knew that it was because of the pigeon. Glasses must have threatened him to quit, he thought, and used the pigeon to make him do it. Kawauchi’s head was reeling from the information he had just gotten, and it dawned to him that Banchou probably isn’t the only target, since it _is_ about the Public Morals Club after all-

He caught himself just as he was about to dash to her again. Why should he care? Wasn’t his job over? Banchou already quit the club, and he had finally succeeded in making sure he didn’t fall at the same level he had fallen when he lost to… to… her. There was no point in caring about her since Banchou has nothing to do with her now. Sure, he had planned for them to get them together, but this was, by far, the better outcome. Banchou was finally free. Free to be the Banchou Kawauchi looked up to before he had fallen.

So why wasn’t he happy?


End file.
